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Japan 3, USA 2: Samurai steals the United States’ crown

Team Japan are your 2023 World Baseball Classic champions! Their bullpen was simply too much for the Team USA hitters, turning in scoreless inning after scoreless inning with each pitcher throwing a nastier splitter than the last. What promised to be a slugfest actually turned into a pitchers’ duel, with the Samurai Japan arms coming out on top, 3-2.

Mike Trout kicked things off with a one-out bloop down the right-field line, putting his head down out of the box to slide into second with a hustle double. However, Cardinals teammates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado would strand him in scoring position.