Japan's national baseball team opened the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a dominant victory, powered by Shohei Ohtani's explosive performance.
Japan defeated Taiwan 13-0 in a seven-inning mercy-rule game at Tokyo Dome on Thursday in Pool C play. Tournament rules declare a mercy rule when a team leads by 15 or more runs after five innings or 10 or more runs after seven innings.
The 2023 WBC champions displayed overwhelming offensive firepower from the start, avenging their loss to Taiwan in the 2024 Premier12 final.
Japan sent 15 batters to the plate in the second inning alone, dismantling Taiwan's pitching staff. With the score tied 0-0 and bases loaded with one out, Ohtani launched a go-ahead grand slam. RBI hits from Masataka Yoshida, Shugo Maki, Sosuke Genda, and Kenya Wakatsuki followed. When the batting order cycled back around, Ohtani added another RBI single in his second at-bat of the inning.
MLB.com reported that Japan's 10-run inning and Ohtani's five RBIs in a single inning both set new WBC records. Japan extended the lead to 13-0 in the third inning with RBI hits from Kazuma Okamoto and Genda.
Ohtani finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and one run scored. He fell a triple short of what would have been the first cycle in WBC history but led the team's offensive charge. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three walks but recording two strikeouts while throwing a no-hitter. Yamamoto is scheduled to start in the quarterfinals.
Taiwan, which lost 3-0 to Australia the previous day, dropped to 0-2 in pool play. Taiwan faces Czech Republic in its third pool-stage game at noon on Friday.
