THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 21, 2023 at 17:00 JST
Munetaka Murakami, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off double against Mexico on March 20 in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic in Miami. (Jin Nishioka)
Munetaka Murakami picked an ideal time to break out of his World Baseball Classic funk.
The Japanese triple crown winner delivered a walk-off double in a 6-5 thriller against Mexico on March 20 that propelled Samurai Japan into the final against the United States.
Entering the semifinal at loanDepot park in Miami, Murakami, who broke the Nippon Professional Baseball record for a Japanese-born player with 56 homers last season, had no home runs and eight strikeouts.
Although he had two hits in the quarterfinal against Italy in Tokyo, Murakami was 0-4 with three strikeouts before stepping to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with Mexico ahead 5-4.
He belted a pitch from Mexican reliever Giovanny Gallegos off the center field wall to bring in Shohei Ohtani and pinch runner Ukyo Shuto—and ignite a raucous celebration on the field.
After the game, Murakami said: “I struck out so many times and felt frustrated so many times, but my teammates supported me. Although I may have made the last hit, this win was a team effort. I am relieved I could live up to expectations.”
Ohtani, who led off the inning with a double, said, “When I got on base, I was confident Murakami would come through in the end to bring me home.”
Samurai Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama said, “I felt like, ‘Baseball, what an awesome game baseball,’ and I hope the fans watching the game felt the same way.”
Japan fell behind 3-0 in the fourth inning when Luis Urias hit a three-run home run off starter Roki Sasaki, the young sensation who pitched a perfect game last season in NPB.
Sasaki impressed the crowd with a number of fastballs over 160 kph.
Japan failed to get on the scoreboard until the seventh inning, when Masataka Yoshida tied the game up with a three-run homer off JoJo Romero.
Unlike Murakami, Yoshida has been on a tear in this WBC, racking up 13 RBIs with a .474 batting average.
Back in the WBC final for the first time since 2009, Japan will face defending champion the United States on March 21 at the same ballpark.
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