Bases loaded, Ohtani up and Australia does this ...

Facing Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded in a tie game is a scary situation for any opponent. Team Australia found itself in that predicament in the fourth inning of Sunday’s World Baseball Classic game vs. Team Japan.

Then catcher Robbie Perkins bailed out the Aussies with some heads-up defense with two outs.

After a 2-1 pitch to Ohtani fell in for a strike, Perkins fired a strike of his own to shortstop Jarryd Dale, who charged in and applied the tag to Shugo Maki before he could dive back into second base. The pickoff kept the game scoreless and got Australia out of a massive jam. Ohtani ended up flying out to open the bottom of the fifth.

Thanks to a clutch homer from Masataka Yoshida, Japan held on for a 4-3 victory as Australia's late rally fell short. But it was Australia's heads-up defense that even put it in position to have a shot, and it will need more of the same against Korea on Monday: A win means the Aussies would advance.