Japan 000 010 120 4 8 1 Australia 010 000 000 1 5 0
Japan joined Israel and the Netherlands as two-game winners during the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. On Wednesday evening they welcomed Australia into the tournament with a 4-1 win at the Tokyo Dome.
Allan de San Miguel gave the team from Down Under a 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the second. However this would be the only break in the armor of Samurai Japan’s defense. Instead Japan came through on offense in the later innings. Nobuhiro Matsuda tied the game with a sac fly in the fifth. Sho Nakata broke the tie with a solo home run in the seventh. One frame later a two-run home run by Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh capped the scoring for the night.
Kodai Senga earned the win with four strikeouts in two scoreless one-hit innings of relief. Matt Williams got charged with the loss. Starters Tomoyuki Sugano and Tim Atherton had allowed one run on four hits each.