Ohtani shines as Japan reach another semi-final in a classic

TOKYO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani covered nearly five innings and rallied four runs in the third to lead Japan to a 9-3 win over Italy on Thursday night, claiming his fifth consecutive World Classic berth. baseball.

Masataka Yoshida, recently signed by the Boston Red Sox, homered and drove into the go-ahead run with a groundout, cementing himself as the tournament leader in RBIs with 10. Kazuma Okamoto hit a homer three points for Japan, who boast a 47-11 aggregate in scoring against their rivals after five games.

Japan flies to Miami to play a semi-final on Monday against Puerto Rico or Mexico. Cuba will play the other semi-final against the United States or Venezuela.

In front of 41,723 delighted fans in the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani threw his fastest pitch since signing with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, knocking out Vinnie Pasquantino with a 102mph fastball in the sixth. That topped the 101.4 mph pitch with which he knocked out Houston’s Kyle Tucker on Sept. 10.

Ohtani (2-0) allowed two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. He went 1 for 4 at home plate. He’s hitting .438 (16-7) with a home run, three doubles and eight RBIs, plus a 2.08 ERA, 10 strikeouts and a walk from the mound.

The star will have four days off to compete in a possible final on Tuesday – four and a half days, given the time difference.

Ohtani extended his scoreless streak to 8 2/3 innings until in the fifth, he allowed Dominic Fletcher’s single – a light touch with the bases loaded and two outs – to right field. It was Ohtani’s 71st and final shot of the night, nine shy of the limit.

Hiromi Itoh picked up and retired Miles Mastrobuoni with a fly ball that Yoshida slammed into the left field wall.

Japan are the only nation to have reached the semi-finals of all five editions of the Classic, winning the first two – 2006 and 2009. The Samurai Warriors were eliminated by Puerto Rico in 2013 and the United States in 2017.

Italy, led by Mike Pizza, reached the first round for the first time since 2013. Fletcher, a prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks, drove in Italy’s three races on the night and hit the Team’s first home run of the tournament, a solo shot in the eighth against Yu Darvish.