侍ジャパン、世界一　１４年ぶり栄冠、大谷ＭＶＰ―米国下し３度目・ＷＢＣ

　【マイアミ時事】野球の国・地域別対抗戦、第５回ワールド・ベースボール・クラシック（ＷＢＣ）は２１日（日本時間２２日）、米フロリダ州マイアミで決勝が行われ、日本代表「侍ジャパン」が米国を３―２で下し、２００６年の第１回、０９年の第２回大会に次ぐ３大会ぶり３度目の優勝を果たした。
　日本は１次リーグから７戦全勝。東京では１次リーグと準々決勝で５連勝した。米国に舞台を移しての準決勝はメキシコ、決勝では米国に勝利。ともに米大リーグ選手をそろえる強豪を退けた。
　決勝は１点リードの三回から小刻みに継投し、九回には投打二刀流の大谷翔平選手（エンゼルス）が指名打者から登板。無失点救援で逃げ切り、最優秀選手（ＭＶＰ）に選ばれた。
　日本代表はプロ野球の主力選手に加え、大谷選手、ダルビッシュ有投手（パドレス）ら大リーガーが参加。「史上最強」の呼び声通りの快進撃で米国の連覇を阻み、１４年ぶりの世界一に輝いた。（2023/03/22-15:27）

Japan won the fifth World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, defeating the defending champion United States 3-2 in the final of the closely watched tournament.
   The Japanese team, nicknamed Samurai Japan, clinched a WBC victory for the first time in three tournaments, and the WBC win was the third for the country. Led by manager Hideki Kuriyama, Samurai Japan won all games in the latest WBC, beating China, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Australia in the round-robin group stage, Italy in the quarterfinal and Mexico in the semifinal before the victorious final match.
   In the championship game at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Japan's Munetaka Murakami belted a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to catch up with the United States 1-1. Later in the same inning, Kazuma Okamoto, a third-base runner, scored while Lars Nootbaar grounded out to first. Okamoto blasted a solo homer in the fourth inning to widen Japan's lead 3-1.
   After the United States came close to Japan 3-2 in the eighth inning, two-way star Shohei Ohtani took the mound for Japan in the top of the ninth inning, allowing no runs to the United States. The two countries faced in a WBC final for the first time.
   Japan was WBC champion in the first tournament in 2006 and the second tournament in 2009.