By Rocky Swift
TOKYO, March 7 (Reuters) - Seiya Suzuki stole the limelight from Samurai Japan teammate Shohei Ohtani on Saturday, delivering two dingers in a hit parade that helped the home team outlast South Korea to stay perfect in group play of the World Baseball Classic.
The East Asian rivals delighted fans with five home runs between them in a back-and-forth affair that ended up with Japan coming out on top 8-6.
"I'm glad I was able to hit in a way that gives the team some momentum," said Suzuki,
a centrefielder for the Chicago Cubs. "I want to stay focused and keep it going."
Japan are now even with Australia with a 2-0 record in Pool C play of the tournament, with a showdown between the two set for Sunday. South Korea, 1-1, face the Aussies on Monday.
A global sporting spectacle now in its sixth incarnation since 2006, the WBC is a showcase of national pride in Japan, with the nation consistently fielding their best players and leading all other nations with three championships.
South Korea have been among Japan's most formidable rivals in prior WBCs, but have not come out on top in a matchup since 2009.
South Korea struck first, roughing up Japan starter Yusei Kikuchi, a left-hander for the Los Angeles Angels, for four hits and three runs in the first inning. Japan answered with a two-run homer by Suzuki.
Japan yanked back control in the third, with no-doubter shot over the right-centre field wall by Los Angeles Dodgers player Ohtani. That was followed by round trippers by Suzuki and Masataka Yoshida, a left fielder for the Boston Red Sox.
Hyeseong Kim, currently in the Dodgers organisation, evened it up for South Korea with a two-run homer in the fourth, but Japan regained the lead with a three-run seventh and held on for the win.
Japan are the defending WBC champions after beating the United States in the 2023 final that ended dramatically when Ohtani struck out Mike Trout, his Los Angeles Angels teammate at the time, for the last out.
Perhaps feeling that sting, Team USA are fielding a particularly strong lineup this year, including three-time American League MVP Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, who led the AL last year with 60 homers, and 2025 Cy Young Award winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal.
Judge homered in Team USA's 15-5 rout of Brazil in their first game of the tournament. The winner of Japan's Pool C faces the runner-up in Pool D, where Venezuela and Dominican Republic are the favourites.
Ohtani and Suzuki were on opposing sides of a Dodgers-Cubs season opener at the Tokyo Dome last March, with Los Angeles winning both games. The WBC has brought back baseball fever to Tokyo, with thousands of jersey-wearing fans milling about the dome area and waiting in long lines to buy souvenirs.
The tournament, which runs from March 5-17 across Tokyo, Puerto Rico, Houston and Miami, brings together 20 national teams competing in round-robin pools before the top two from each group advance to the quarter-finals.
Ohtani, 31, is not expected to pitch in the tournament as the Dodgers hope to preserve his arm, offering Samurai Japan just his formidable bat as designated hitter.
Ohtani smashed a grand slam and batted in five runs in a 13-0 rout against Taiwan to open Samurai Japan's series on Friday.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift in TokyoEditing by Christian Radnedge)
