Japan Rallies To Clinch First Place In Group

Defending champion Japan became the first nation to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the World Baseball Classic, then rallied on Masataka Yoshida’s two-run homer in the seventh inning to beat Australia 4-3 at Tokyo Dome and assure first place in its first-round group. Japan advanced earlier Sunday when South Korea lost to Taiwan 5-4 in 10 innings. Japan’s win clinched first place in Pool C for Shohei Ohtani and the Samurai Warriors, who are 3-0. At Miami, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero and Austin Wells homered as the Dominican Republic routed the Netherlands 12-1 in seven innings.