2023 World Baseball Classic championship: Twitter reacts to Japan's win over USA
The 2023 World Baseball Classic championship game had to live up to immense hype and pressure to deliver a fitting end to an incredible tournament.
It did, as Shohei Ohtani struck out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to defeat the United States and hand Japan its third World Baseball Classic title.
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[2023 World Baseball Classic highlights: Japan beats USA to win championship]
Here's how social media reacted to the incredible ending!
An all-time moment for an all-time legend of baseball
[Japan edges USA in WBC final after Ohtani strikes out Trout]
Basking in the glory of an incredible World Baseball Classic
Scroll down for more social media reaction to top moments from the championship game:
Ohtani's incredible pregame speech
Trea Turner AGAIN!
"America's shortstop" hit his fourth home run over his past three WBC games to give Team USA a 1-0 lead and send social media into a frenzy.
Murakami answers!
The star Japan slugger broke out of his WBC slump in a big way with his walk-off double in the semifinal, and continued swinging his hot bat with a no-doubt home run to spark a second-inning rally that gave Japan a 2-1 lead.
Ohtani and Yu Darvish in the bullpen, could they help or hurt Japan?
American baseball fans are plenty familiar with star Japanese aces Ohtani and Darvish, and for good reason — but so are the pitchers' MLB peers on Team USA. Could familiarity with Japan's two most feared arms work in Team USA's favor as Japan clings to a 3-1 lead?
Familiarity may matter more for Darvish than it could for Ohtani, though.
Meanwhile, the pitchers Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama has gone to have held a fearsome USA lineup in check.
Mike Trout vs. Shohei Ohtani with the WBC on the line?!?
It could happen.
Is there anything Ohtani can't do?
The two-way superstar legged out an infield single in the bottom of the seventh, showing off his blazing speed.
Schwarber trims the lead!
A no-doubter after a tense at-bat against Yu Darvish pulls Team USA back within one.
MIKE TROUT VS. SHOHEI OHTANI WITH THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ON THE LINE
Shohei Ohtani is coming in to close out the game for Japan. Due up third for Team USA is his Angels teammate, Mike Trout.
Stay tuned for updates!
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