World Baseball Classic 2023: Scores and Reaction from Friday Pool Play Results

Despite getting to star pitcher Yu Darvish early Korea didn't have enough to overcome Japan's explosive offense as the two-time World Baseball Classic champions continued their early tournament dominance with a 13-4 win Friday in Pool B play.

Japan got contributions from all over its lineup including MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and two walks.

The big star of the day was soon-to-be Boston Red Sox Masataka Yoshida. He went 3-for-3 with a game-high five RBI, a flawless day at the plate.

Meanwhile, over in Pool A, Chinese Taipei got its first victory of the tournament in a back-and-forth affair against Italy, winning 11-7. Taipei broke a 7-7 tie in the seventh inning behind a Kuo-Chen Fan slow dribbler with the bases loaded.

Chinese Taipei put the game out of reach in the next frame with a Kungkuan Giljegiljaw three-run homer.

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Pool B

Australia 12, China 2

China was the first team to be eliminated from the tournament with its 12-2 loss to Australia on Friday night.

The Australian team got off to a fast start on Rixon Wingrove's double with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning that scored three runs.

After a scoreless second inning, the Australians broke things open thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Darryl George and Aaron Whitehead in the bottom of the third.

China looked like it was going to fight back in the top of the fourth with two runs, including an RBI single from Jinjun Luo.

The floodgates opened for Australia in the bottom of the frame when they tacked on five runs. Robbie Glendinning got the scoring started with a solo homer to center field Weiyi Wang.

Australia's pitching staff did a great job containing the Japanese hitters. They only allowed five hits (four singles) in the win. Kyle Glogoski struck out five hitters over 2.2 innings to start the game.

The win moved Australia to 2-0 in Pool B and a spot in the quarterfinals. It will wrap up pool play on Saturday with a showdown against Japan.

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Pool A

Panama 2, Italy 0

Four pitchers combined to allow just five hits with six strikeouts for Panama in a 2-0 win over Italy.

Harold Arauz started the game for the Panama team and tossed four innings. Humberto Mejía and Alberto Baldonado each threw two innings. Javy Guerra closed the game with a scoreless ninth inning.

Italy was trying to put together a rally against Guerra with runners on first and third with one out. The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander ended things by getting Nicky Lopez to ground into a double play.

The Italian pitching staff was also on point for most of the game. The biggest hit was Jose Ramos' solo home run off Michele Vassalotti in the top of the second to give Panama a 1-0 lead.

Allen Cordoba gave Panama an insurance run in the top of the seventh with an RBI single that scored Ramos.

The win snaps Panama's two-game losing streak to the Netherlands and Cuba. It also gives the team an automatic berth in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Italy will close out pool play Saturday against the Netherlands.

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Pool B

Japan 13, Korea 4

Things started out rough for Japan as Darvish, one of the team's star pitchers and an ace for the San Diego Padres, gave up a two-run homer to Euiji Yang in the top of the third inning and put Korea on top in the rivalry game.

Korea eventually took a 3-0 lead later in the inning, but it would be short-lived, as Japan's offense came to life in the bottom half of the frame.

The home team sent the Tokyo crowd into a frenzy as it responded by scoring four runs and taking the lead, a lead that it would never surrender again. The inning was highlighted by Yoshida, who had two of his five RBI on a single.

And of course Ohtani—one of the most dominant players on the planet–was all in on the fun as Japan pulled further and further away from its rivals and cemented itself as the team to beat in Pool B.

With two terrific offensive performances to start the tournament, Japan is also looking like a team primed for a deep run and remains one of the favorites to win the whole thing.

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Pool A

Chinese Taipei 11, Italy 7

Taipei's first win started off with a bang. Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin hit a homer in the bottom of the first inning to send the home crowd wild and inject life into his team.

It would kick off a wild few innings as the teams went back-and-forth for five lead changes. But no matter how large the lead got either way, both teams were not willing to back down.

One of the memorable moments of the game came in the fourth inning. Down 5-2, and with the raucous home crowd working against it, Italy managed to fight all the way back to put itself back in the driver's seat.

Nicky Lopez, Miles Mastrobuoni and Sal Frelick were at the heart of the rally.

Italy eventually took a 7-5 lead, but Taipei would eventually be the ones to come out on top.

After tying things up at seven on a Yu Chang two-run homer in the sixth inning, Taipei would get the go-ahead run in the next frame on Fan's slow dribbler before Giljegiljaw's three-run shot put the game out of sight.

It was a huge win for Taipei, who kept itself afloat in Pool A, currently sitting in second place behind the undefeated Netherlands. Meanwhile, Italy will look to avoid its second loss in less than 24 hours against Panama on Friday night.