ICHIRO CLUTCH HIT KEYS JAPAN'S SECOND WBC TITLE GAME WIN

Ichiro Suzuki’s two-run single in the top of the 10th inning broke a 3-3 tie as Japan went on to beat South Korea, 5-3, Monday night in Los Angeles to win their second World Baseball Classic championship. With two Japanese runners on, first base open and two out, Korean reliever Chang-Yong Lim pitched to Suzuki, who already had three hits on the night. The two battled it out until Ichiro stroked Lim’s eighth pitch into right field to score both runners, putting Japan up for good. Yu Darvish, Japan’s 22-year-old pitching prodigy, held Korea scoreless in the bottom of the 10th.


Korea was trailing by a 3-2 count going into the bottom of the ninth when Darvish gave up an RBI single to Bum-Ho Lee, but Darvish settled down when it mattered. Shin-Soo Choo whacked a homer for the second straight game for the Koreans in the fifth inning. Japan’s Daisuke Matsuzaka was the WBC’s MVP for the second consecutive time after going 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA.