Japan powers past Aussies late, takes top seed in Pool C

TOKYO – For nearly seven innings, one of the greatest upsets in international baseball history was in the making. With Japan having already qualified for the quarterfinals after Chinese Taipei defeated Korea earlier on Sunday, Australia was in position to book its own ticket with a victory against the defending champs.

But a valiant pitching performance by the Aussies got flipped on its head by an errant throw and one swing from Masataka Yoshida in a 4-3 victory by Japan.

Australia's bid to shock the Tokyo Dome crowd began with an outstanding performance from starting pitcher Connor MacDonald, a former Astros position player prospect who turned to the mound just three years ago, only ever pitching in the Australian Baseball League. With his family in the stands, MacDonald, for three innings, shut down the powerful Samurais, who had scored 21 runs in their first two contests.

“I’m really proud of Connor,” manager Dave Nilsson said. “He carried a pretty big load tonight. It just shows how hard he worked and how he's used the ABL to prepare for this moment. Really big stage, obviously nothing bigger than tonight, and it’s a testament to just the work he's put in.”

MacDonald matched Tomoyuki Sugano, who pitched four shutout innings in his first start back in the Tokyo Dome, the stadium he called home from 2013-24. He didn't let the environment or the crowd overwhelm him.

"Once I went to the mound, all I focus and all I care about is pitch by pitch, hitters by hitters to put up a zero," Sugano said.

From there the Australian bullpen did its best to finish off the upset. They were helped by a nifty defensive play in the fourth inning, with two outs and the bases loaded and Shohei Ohtani at the plate. After a 2-1 pitch fell in for a strike, catcher Robbie 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, ending the inning and keeping the game scoreless.

With a pitchers' duel unfolding, and tensions high, the Aussies broke through in the top of the sixth. Aaron Whitefield, who appeared in eight Major League games for the Twins and Angels, gave Australia the lead with his wheels. He stole third base and raced for home when catcher Kenya Wakatsuki’s throw went wild.

But the dream of an epic upset faded one inning later.

In a sign of just how baseball can giveth -- and then taketh away -- Australia was on the receiving end of similar unfortunate luck that had befell the Czechs when the two teams faced off two days ago. In that game, Australia took the lead after trailing, 1-0, when Czech first baseman Martin Mužík was unable to catch the return throw at first base to secure an inning-ending double-play.

On Sunday, Aussie reliever Jon Kennedy whiffed on the return toss on a potential inning-ending double play in the seventh. Red Sox slugger Yoshida – keeping his hot hitting going – took advantage of the extra out, smashing his second home run of the tournament – a two-run shot out to right that gave Japan a 2-1 lead.

"He has been hot, especially for the clutch situation," Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata said of Yoshida. "He's a guy to put up numbers, so I'm so proud of him."

Japan added two more in the eighth on a Teruaki Sato double and Seiya Suzuki bases-loaded walk. Those insurance runs proved critical, as Australia made things interesting in the ninth with solo homers from Alex Hall and Rixon Wingrove off closer Taisei Ota. But that would be it.

While Samurai Japan had already locked up a spot in the quarterfinals, the game had some added importance as Emperor Naruhito was at the game. It was the first time the Japanese emperor had attended a baseball game in almost 70 years. The last time the country’s emperor was at a game, in 1966, Tokyo Giants legend Shigeo Nagashima hit a home run.

"It was a must-win game for me," Ibata said. "No matter how we play, and the score was just so close, but the result, we won, so we are so pleased to get a win. I am guessing that all my players are also satisfied about today's win in front of the Emperor's family."

For the Australians, they now will face Korea on Monday night (6 a.m. ET on FS1). They’ll turn to Lachlan Wells, who made four starts in the KBO last year and is set to play for the LG Twins this next season. While they can still advance with a defeat – that would set up a three-way tie between themselves, Korea and Chinese Taipei, the second-place winner being determined by who allowed the fewest runs divided by defensive outs recorded.

The team isn’t interested in leaving things up to an equation.

“Obviously, there is some math to it, but we're just going to play to win,” Nilsson said. “As I said, our position players are healthy. Pitchers are healthy, so really, no different from tonight. It’s another team and that’s as simple as it gets.”

Japan will now have a day off before facing the fan-favorite Czechia on the final day of the pool. Czechia has already been eliminated and will need to play in a qualifier to make it back to the next World Baseball Classic.