Japan Beats Team USA in WBC Final – Japan won the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night, downing Team USA 3-2 in the championship game at LoanDepot Park in Miami. The game ended in dramatic fashion with Japan’s Shohei Ohtani striking out his MLB teammate Mike Trout with a full-count slider to seal Japan’s third title. Ohtani, who batted .435 and pitched to a 1.86 ERA, was also named the tournament’s most valuable player. Ohtani pitching to Trout was something special – not only will the pair go down alongside baseball’s all-time greats, but they are also Los Angeles Angels teammates. “It was the greatest situation facing the greatest hitter, so it was great,” Ohtani told ESPN. The 28-year-old added: “I’ve seen Japan winning, and I just wanted to be part of it,” when speaking to MLB. “I really appreciate that I was able to have the great experience. As I say, the next generation, the kids who are playing baseball, I was hoping that those people would like to play baseball. That would make me happy.” Despite the defeat and strikeout, Trout quipped that Ohtani had “won round one.” Read more at: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/sport/world-baseball-classic-final-usa-japan-spt-intl/index.html ( and
