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Japan hold off Australia as Korea stay alive at World Baseball Classic

Published: 09 Mar. 2026, 08:37

Masataka Yoshida of Japan, right, is greeted by teammates after hitting a two-run home run against Australia during the teams' Pool C game at the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 8. [AP/YONHAP]

Japan rallied past Australia 4-3 for its third consecutive victory at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Sunday, a result that kept alive Korea's hope of reaching the knockout phase.

Japan, the defending champions, trailed 1-0 through six innings of this Pool C contest, and then Masataka Yoshida delivered a lead-flipping two-run home run with two outs in the bottom seventh at Tokyo Dome.

Teruaki Sato's RBI double in the eighth stretched Japan's lead to 3-1, and Seiya Suzuki drew a bases-loaded walk to make it a 4-1 game for the home team.

Australia blasted two solo home runs in the top ninth off Taisei Ota, one each by Alex Hall and Rixon Wingrove, but fell short of a monumental upset.

Australia broke a string of zeros in the top sixth. After hitting a one-out double, Aaron Whitefield stole third base and then sprinted home when an errant throw by catcher Kenya Wakatsuki sailed past third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and rolled into left field.

Australia could have maintained its slim lead in the seventh but botched a chance to turn an inning-ending double play. Yoshida made Australia pay by taking reliever Jon Kennedy deep for his second home run of the tournament.

Japan (3-0) has already qualified for the quarterfinals, open to the top two teams in the group. Australia (2-1) will close out pool play against Korea (1-2) at 7 p.m. Monday.

After losing to Chinese Taipei 5-4 earlier Sunday, Korea has to beat Australia and win a tiebreaker to advance.

A Korean win on Monday will leave Korea, Australia and Chinese Taipei with the same 2-2 records. Since head-to-head records won't solve the deadlock, the lowest quotient of runs allowed by defensive outs between tied teams will be the next tiebreaking category.

In order to advance, Korea must beat Australia by 5-0, 6-1 or 7-2 in nine innings.

Yonhap