Mexico-Japan semifinal: Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Munetaka Murakami leads Japan to World Baseball Classic final with walk-off double

Munetaka Murakami doubled off Giovanny Gallegos in the bottom of the ninth and led World No. 1 Japan to an emotional walk-off win against No. 5 Mexico in the second World Baseball Classic semifinal, 6-5 in front of a sellout crowd of 35,933 at the loanDepot Park in Maimi, USA on Monday.

Japan won the first two editions of the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009 but didn't reach the final in the following three. In the final, they will face the defending World Champions and World No. 4, USA.

Mexico came within three outs from a trip to the World Championship game.

Giovanny Gallegos, the sixth Mexican pitcher, took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth. It took only one pitch to Shohei Ohtani to become the potential tying run. The two-way superstar hit a sharp line drive to center for a leadoff double.

"It's been a while since I was playing in a win-or-lose game, a playoff atmosphere game," Ohtani said. "Obviously, we couldn't lose, and I wanted to get the guys rallied up in the dugout."

Msataka Yoshida drew a walk and left for pinch-runner Ukyo Shuto. The WBSC Premier12 winner became the potential winning run.

Munetaka Murakami was 0-for-4 as he stepped to the plate. "Having struck out three times, the thought of bunting in that situation crossed my mind, but the manager wanted me to swing."

The manager was right. Murakami got to the third pitch by Gallegos and turned it into a walk-off double. "When I hit the ball, I was hoping it was going to go into the back stands, but I guess I didn't have enough power to hit the ball out of the stadium," Murakami added. "But I knew Shuto is a speedy runner, so I figured we would win."

MLB Network asked Japan's Lars Nootbar to act as a reporter and the center fielder confirmed "motions are going crazy right now."

As Jessica Camerato reported on MLB.com, "the back-and-forth World Baseball Classic semifinals battle between Japan and Mexico was packed with moments that kept the sellout crowd of 35,933 on the edges of their seats inside loanDepot park."

Luis Urias put Mexico ahead with a two-run homer off starter Rori Sasaki in the top of the fourth, and Yoshida tied it with a three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh against left-hander JoJo Romero.

Mexico thought they had it after a two-run eighth. Randy Arozarena scored the go-ahead run on a double by Alex Verdugo, and Jarren Duran scored on a single by Isaac Paredes.

Yoshida set up Japan's comeback. His perfect throw to catcher Tayuka Kai prevented Joey Meneses from scoring an insurance run.

"Japan moved on," said Mexico manager Benji Gil. "But the world of baseball won today."

Left-hander Shota Imanaga, a WBSC Premier12 star, will take the mound for Japan in the final, scheduled for Tuesday, 21 March, at 7 pm (local time) at loanDepot Park in Miami. The United States chose veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly.

Japan beat the US in the Tokyo 2020 gold medal game.

Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama confirmed in the postgame press conference that Ohtani will be available as a reliever "depending on his physical condition."

"Obviously, it's a big accomplishment to get to the championship series, but there's a huge difference between getting first and second," commented Ohtani. "I'm going to do all I can to get first place."