Japan escaped with a 4-3 victory over Australia in front of 42,331 fans — and Japan’s Imperial Family — at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday night, improving to 3-0 in Pool C play at the World Baseball Classic.
Australia came close to a historic upset, shutting down Japan’s potent offense into the seventh inning while maintaining a 1-0 lead.
But a two-run home run into the right field stands by Masataka Yoshida ultimately proved to be the difference as the Samurai rallied late to secure the win.
Japan had already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals earlier in the day when Chinese Taipei defeated Korea, 5-4, but the win versus Australia guaranteed them the top spot in the pool. They have one pool game remaining against Czechia on Tuesday.
Australia, meanwhile, fell to 2-1 and must quickly regroup for a pivotal matchup with Korea tomorrow night that will determine who advances to Miami. If Korea wins, three teams (Korea, Australia, and Chinese Taipei) would be tied for second place at 2-2, sending the standings to a tiebreaker.
Connor MacDonald set the tone early for Australia, tossing three scoreless innings as the pitching staff kept Japan quiet into the late innings. Warwick Saupold, Blake Townsend, Coen Wynne, and Jon Kennedy followed in relief to continue the strong effort on the mound.
One of the biggest defensive plays of the night came in the bottom of the fourth when Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, but catcher Robbie Perkins picked off Shugo Maki at second base to end the inning and preserve the scoreless tie.
Veteran Tomoyuki Sugano started for Japan and tossed four scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out two on 50 pitches. Left-hander Chihiro Sumida followed with three innings of relief and struck out seven.
However, Australia broke through in the sixth when Aaron Whitefield doubled and later scored on a throwing error by catcher Kenya Wakatsuki on a stolen base attempt at third, giving the Aussies a 1-0 lead.
The game turned in the bottom of the seventh when Australia failed to complete what would have been an inning-ending double play on a grounder by Kensuke Kondoh. Masataka Yoshida immediately made them pay, launching a two-run home run off Kennedy to give Japan its first lead of the night.
Atsuki Taneichi tossed a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning, and Japan added two insurance runs in the bottom half on a Teruaki Sato pinch-hit RBI double and a Seiya Suzuki RBI walk against Ky Hampton to make it a 4-1 game.
Australia made things interesting in the ninth as Alex Hall and Rixon Wingrove each hit solo home runs off closer Taisei, cutting the deficit to one. But Perkins grounded out to third for the final out, sealing Japan’s 4-3 victory.
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Photo: Japan players celebrate after defeating Australia in their World Baseball Classic game on Sunday, March 8, 2026 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
