Team USA’s bid for consecutive World Baseball Classic tournament championships came up short on Tuesday night, falling to Japan 3–2 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Four of the five runs came on solo home runs by Team USA’s Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber and Japan’s Munetaka Murakami and Kumiko Okamoto.
Trea Turner opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, crushing a 2–1 pitch from Shota Imanaga. The dynamic shortstop tied the WBC tournament home run record previously set by South Korea’s Lee Seung-yuop’s mark set in the inaugural tournament in 2006. Turner finished with the most home runs (5) as well as the most RBIs (10) of any player in the tournament.
