In front of Japan's Emperor Naruhito and pitted against the country's sporting king Shohei Ohtani, Australia have given their illustrious hosts a real scare in their World Baseball Classic showdown in the Tokyo Dome before succumbing to a 4-3 defeat.
With the royal visitor among the full-house hoping to witness more wonders from the game's greatest player on Sunday, Australia's pitchers managed to keep Ohtani quiet as they moved into a 1-0 lead with just three innings remaining.
But even without Ohtani managing to add a third home run in successive days on a rare off-night for the great LA Dodger, the reigning champions did finally manage to grab the lead in the seventh inning thanks to a two-run homer from Masataka Yoshida off the Aussies' fifth pitcher of the night, Jon Kennedy.
