TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani had another RBI double, 21-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki reached 100 mph 21 times in 66 pitches and Japan beat the Czech Republic 10-2 on Saturday night to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the World Baseball Classic.
Shugo Maki hit his second home run of the tournament and new Boston Red Sox oufielder Masataka Yoshida had three RBIs, including a go-ahead, two-run double in the third inning off loser Ondrej Satoria as the Samurai Warriors overcame a 1-0 deficit.
Ohtani went 1 for 3 with a walk before a crowd of 41,637 in the Tokyo Dome, leaving for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. He is 5 for 10 with three doubles, four RBIs and five walks for Japan (3-0), which has one more group game and will host a quarterfinal on Wednesday or Thursday. He also has pitched four scoreless innings.
Sasaki struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings and got the win. He allowed an unearned run, two hits and two walks.Sasaki threw the 16th perfect game in Japanese major league history in April, then pitched eight perfect innings in his next start before being pulled after 102 pitches. He went 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA for the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines last year, striking out 173 in 129 1/3 innings.
In the opener, Rixon Wingrove had four RBIs as Australia (2-0) won in a 12-2 rout of China (0-3) in a game shortened to seven innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
In Group B at Taichung, Boston’s Yu Chang hit a tiebreakking, second-inning grand slam that lifted host Taiwan (2-1) to a 9-5 win over the Netherlands (2-1), and Panama (2-2) won 2-0 over Italy (1-2).
JAPAN 10, CZECH REPUBLIC 2
Japan pitchers struck 16 in all in the Tokyo Dome.
The Czechs went ahead in the first when Marek Chlup doubled and scored on shortstop Takumu Nakano’s throwing error.
Ohtani struck out with two on in the third, but Japan went ahead as Yoshida doubled and scored on a single by 2015 Central League MVP Tetsuto Yamada.
Lars Nootbaar had an RBI single in the fourth as Japan…
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