TOKYO — Yoshitomo Tsutsugo sparked a five-run sixth inning with a solo home run to lead Japan over Israel 8-3 Wednesday and into the championship round of the World Baseball Classic.
With a perfect 6-0 record through the first two rounds, two-time champion Japan advances from Pool E along with the Netherlands, which beat Cuba 14-1 at Tokyo Dome. Israel and Cuba were eliminated.
Tsutsugo connected off Israel reliever Dylan Axelrod with blast to deep center field. Nobuhiro Matsuda doubled in a run to make it 2-0 and Seiji Kobayashi, Nori Aoki and Ryosuke Kikuchi all added RBI hits to widen the lead.