Major League Baseball

Japan stuns Mexico in WBC semifinal, will face USA for title

Updated Mar. 21, 2023 2:12 p.m. ET

MIAMI — A home-run robbery, terrific pitching, momentum-squashing catches, a game-tying three-run home run, punching back, and ear-splitting noise and commotion: The World Baseball Classic semifinal between Mexico and Japan had it all. Japan just had a bit more for 35,933 rowdy fans in the building and countless more across the globe.

Trailing by one run and its three best hitters due up, Japan walked it off in the ninth inning to beat Mexico, 6-5, on Monday night at loanDepot park.

Shohei Ohtani opened the final frame with a leadoff double, then Masataka Yoshida drew a walk, and Munetaka Murakami finally ended the back-and-forth game with a two-run walk-off double that split the left-center field gap and sent Japanese players flying onto the field in a celebratory frenzy. Later, Murakami said he was hoping his walk-off double would go over the wall and into the seats, but he joked that he didn't have enough power to pull it off. After the hysteria, Team Japan stood on the third-base line, took its caps off, and bowed to the crowd in its usual display of honor and tradition.

"We have to tip our hats to the Japanese team," Team Mexico manager Benji Gil. said "Neither team deserved to lose, but someone had to win. Both teams had a great performance, great pitching from both sides, and at no point in time, neither team gave up or surrendered.

"I think that Japan moves on, but the world of baseball won today."

Japan advanced to the WBC final, where it will go toe-to-toe against defending champion Team USA on Tuesday night in Miami (7 p.m. ET, FS1). That means Ohtani will be battling against Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the title; Japan could become the first country to win three WBC championships, while USA is aiming to repeat.

Mexico vs. Japan Highlights

Ohtani will be in the lineup at DH, not starting on the mound for Japan — Shota Imanaga will serve in that capacity — but it’s possible the two-way star could appear in relief. So go ahead and let those predictions — Ohtani vs. Trout in the ninth inning of a tight WBC final — run wild.

"Proud to be wearing Japan across my chest, proud to be playing against the U.S., and I think it's good for baseball," St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar said. "I think it's good that Japan versus the U.S. is going to be in the finals."

Mexico got on the board first with a Luis Urías three-run home run in the fourth inning that Japan had a tough time coming back from until the last leg of the game. The reason for Japan’s early headache was none other than Randy Arozarena, whose fifth-inning home-run robbery halted any momentum that had been building in Japan’s dugout.

Mexico's Randy Arozarena robs Japan of a home run in the fifth inning

Down 3-0, Japan finally came all the way back in the seventh when Yoshida deposited a JoJo Romero changeup into the right field bleachers for a game-tying three-run home run. It was at that moment that Japan believed it could win this game.

So when Arozarena came up clutch in the very next inning, ripping a double and scoring the go-ahead run, it didn’t shake Japan’s fortitude. Japan, with its back against the wall, relied on its perpetual positive energy and picked each other up. Once Ohtani led off the ninth inning with a double and raised his arms, urging his team to believe, the advantage belonged to Japan.

"When Masa comes up big right there and ties it up for us, that lifts everybody's spirits," Nootbaar said. "I would be lying if I didn't say that we needed that jolt, and we got it from him. He kind of uplifted everybody with that swing, and from that point on, I think there was a true, true belief that we can win this game even though we went down later. I think we have proven time and time again that there's no reason why we can't be in every single game."

Japan's Masataka Yoshida launches a three-run home run to even the score

As Nootbaar put it, winning in walk-off fashion felt like an "out of body experience" for Team Japan. But it was only a taste of the madness that will likely occur, one way or another, in the WBC final against the Americans. Japan has shown its ability to be resilient, coming back from two deficits in the semifinal just a couple of days after flying across the world. Now, it will have to find a way to tamper the adrenaline rush for a quick turnaround ahead of Tuesday’s first pitch.

More commotion — and more importantly, more elite baseball — awaits.

"I think we can prove how good Japanese baseball is in the world," said Yoshida, who signed a five-year contract with the Boston Red Sox this winter. "I think it's a great opportunity for us to prove that."

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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