‘Baseball won again’: Ohtani K’s Trout to cap WBC

MIAMI — The dream matchup happened. Ninth inning. Two outs. One-run game. The best player on the planet, Shohei Ohtani, on the mound for Japan. His teammate and good friend, Mike Trout, at the plate for Team USA.

The count went full. Ohtani unleashed a vicious slider. Trout swung through it. And with it, Samurai Japan won the World Baseball Classic.

In a tense, anxiety-riddled game with a storybook ending, Japan capped a perfect WBC with a 3-2 victory over the U.S. in front of 36,058 at LoanDepot Park. The Japanese team, holding a potent U.S. offense down and in front of a partisan crowd with “USA!” chants in the ninth inning, won the epic at-bat between the two Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani, who hadn’t pitched in relief since the 2016 postseason in Japan, had emerged out of the bullpen and took slow, long strides toward the plate — walking, taking in the scenery, as Trout, from the dugout, peeked over his shoulder just to make sure he knew what was coming.

What came to the first hitter, Jeff McNeil: a 101.5 mph fastball, the hardest Ohtani had thrown since coming to the United States — until he would later face Trout. McNeil wound up drawing a walk, but Mookie Betts grounded into a double play, setting up the at-bat Ohtani and Trout both wanted.

It lasted six pitches: a slider for a ball, a 100 mph fastball for a swinging strike, a 100 mph fastball for a ball, a 100 mph fastball for a swinging strike, a 101.6 mph fastball for a ball and the 87 mph slider, the last of three swinging strikes, to send Japan home champions.

Samurai Japan, the juggernaut of this WBC, finished off the Americans to cap a 7-0 tournament. Starting with Shota Imanaga and ending with Ohtani, who also went 1-for-3 batting third as designated hitter, Japan spread out its nine innings among seven pitchers and shut down the U.S. offense, whose two runs came on solo homers from Trea Turner in the second inning and Kyle Schwarber in the seventh. Otherwise, the American offense was feckless, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight runners.

Over the previous 17 days, the WBC had filled the typically staid March baseball calendar with heart-palpitating action: tournament favorite Dominican Republic getting ousted in pool play; a late-game, go-ahead grand slam that propelled the U.S. into the semifinals; and a ninth-inning walk-off double to send Japan into the finals in a come-from-behind win.

All of it set up a dream final between two baseball powerhouses: Team USA, with its copious All-Stars and billion-dollar lineup, against Samurai Japan, the No. 1-ranked team in the world, defending Olympic gold medalists and owner of the uniform worn by Ohtani.

Throughout the tournament, Ohtani continued to amaze, as he has done both hitting and pitching during his five-year major league career. The joy of the WBC, of playing in games larded with meaning, was difficult for Ohtani to hide. The Angels haven’t made the postseason since he joined them in 2018.

So before the finals, in a video posted on social media, Ohtani delivered a fiery speech to his teammates, acknowledging the awe with which they viewed Team USA — and the talent that existed inside of the clubhouse that was plenty capable of beating it.

“Let’s stop admiring them,” Ohtani said. “If you admire them, you can’t surpass them. We came here to surpass them, to reach the top. For one day, let’s throw away our admiration for them and just think about winning.”

They reached the top at 10:43 p.m. ET, engulfing Ohtani, their hero and lifeblood. Ten minutes later, they received their gold medals, winners, just like Ohtani said.