Czechia gives Japan a ride, but reigning champs slam door to go undefeated

Through the first seven innings of Tuesday’s game between Czechia and Japan, it looked like we might witness one of the biggest upsets in World Baseball Classic history.

• Box score

The heavy underdogs held the reigning WBC champions scoreless into the eighth at the Tokyo Dome, something that hadn’t been done to Samurai Japan in the tournament since 2013.

However, Japan broke through in the bottom of the eighth, highlighted by a grand slam from White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami, en route to a 9-0 win, giving it a 4-0 record in pool play. That grand slam was a record fifth one hit in the tournament, breaking the mark from the 2023 edition. The others were from Shohei Ohtani, Korea's Bo Gyeong Moon, Fernando Tatis Jr. for the D.R. and Stuart Fairchild for Chinese Taipei.

There was little at stake in this Pool C finale. Czechia (0-4) had already been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, while Japan could start looking ahead to the quarterfinals. But even in a losing cause, what unfolded in Tokyo won’t soon be forgotten by anyone on the Czech side or their supporters.

After being outscored 30-5 in their first three Classic games, Czechia silenced Japan’s lineup for most of the night. With Ohtani and Seiya Suzuki resting, the Japanese offense could do nothing against Czechia starter Ondřej Satoria. The right-hander who barely touches 80 mph on the radar gun and became a celebrity in Japan after he struck out Ohtani in the 2023 WBC, recorded three K’s over 4 2/3 scoreless frames. That included a strikeout of Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto in the second inning.

Satoria, who has said this will be his last game with the Czech national team, was greeted with applause from the Tokyo Dome crowd and hugs from his teammates when he was relieved in the fifth. As he made his way to the dugout, Satoria made sure to pause and look around the Tokyo Dome so that he could soak in this moment.

He was replaced by Michal Kovala, who stranded a runner on third base in the seventh to keep the game scoreless. Japan was flirting with its first WBC loss in Tokyo since its March 9, 2009, defeat to Korea. It had already been held scoreless through seven innings for the first time in Classic play since a March 17, 2013, loss to Puerto Rico.

The title contenders finally got on track in the eighth, using homers by Ukyo Shuto and Murakami to put up nine runs. Before his last at-bat of the night, Murakami was 2-for-14 with four K’s. But he clobbered a pitch from Czech left-hander Ryan Johnson, sending it a projected 425 feet into the center-field seats.

Four Japanese pitchers -- Hiroto Takahashi, Hiroya Miyagi, Yumeto Kanemaru and Koki Kitayama -- combined for 14 strikeouts and just two hits allowed in the shutout.

But the story of the game was the fight shown from the Czechia side. After the final out was recorded, Satoria came back out onto the field and received a standing ovation from the 42,000-plus in attendance.

Japan will next play on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET inside Miami’s loanDepot park. That quarterfinal matchup will come against the loser of Wednesday's Pool D game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, both of which are 3-0. Saturday’s game will be televised on FOX.