The knockout stages are now in full swing at the World Baseball Classic. The morning after the United States and Puerto Rico punched their tickets to the quarterfinals, Japan and Italy brought us the tournament’s second win-or-go-home matchup with a spot in the semis on the line. We’re bringing this recap early since it was the only game scheduled for March 16th and it wrapped up in the morning Eastern Time.
With two WBC titles in tow, not to mention a flat-out stacked roster, replete with star hitters and ace pitchers (and the one man who is both), Japan entered the game as clear favorites.