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Watch Japan’s thrilling walk-off to beat Mexico in WBC from all angles

Alicia de Artola
Alicia de Artola

Fansided

Team Japan celebrates WBC walk-off. (Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)

Team Japan advanced to the final of the WBC in the most dramatic way possible, beating Mexico on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.

The World Baseball Classic is fantastic and Monday night’s semifinal between Japan and Mexico proved it.

For a minute there it really looked like Mexico would be the one taking on the Americans in the final on Tuesday. Mexico led 5-4 going into the ninth. However, Shohei Ohtani and his team had something up their sleeves though.

Ohtani’s lead-off double put the tying run on base. Mexico didn’t take their chances pitching to the hot bat of Masataka Yoshida, walking him to put Munetaka Murakami at the plate with no outs and the chance to win it for Japan.

He did just that, sending a fly ball off the center field wall to send a jubilant Ohtani and pinch runner Ykyo Shuto home for the win.

Japan’s walk-off to beat Mexico in WBC is amazing from all angles

What a tremendous moment for Team Japan and the WBC. It seriously gets better with every angle.

Here’s what it looked like from the stands:

And here’s a view from the press box:

And here’s a slo-mo view of the celebrations:

And here’s the view from the field:

And here’s some fans losing it over the incredible ending:

The WBC has been full of dramatic moments, including Trea Turner’s epic grand slam to put the United States through to the semifinals over Venezuela. This one from Japan might take the cake. At least until the whole thing finishes off on Tuesday.

In a matchup the world has been dreaming of, Team USA will take on Team Japan in Miami for all the marbles. Who knows what thrilling turns the WBC will bring us next.

Alicia de Artola

Alicia de Artola

Alicia de Artola is an editor at FanSided.com, covering college football and basketball, NFL, MLB, NBA, English Premier League, Formula 1 and much more. She has more than a decade of experience in sports, and co-hosts Reign of Troy Radio, the popular USC football podcast. She’s covered games and practices, taken photos on the sidelines and interviewed Trojans legends as a USC beat writer from 2016 to 2019. Since 2020, she has taken a broader national focus, writing about every sport under the sun, including major events from the College Football Playoff and Super Bowl to the World Series and NBA Finals. A member of the Football Writers Association of America and Association for Women in Sports Media, de Artola joined FanSided in 2012 and has since been inducted into the FanSided Hall of Fame. She lives with her husband and border collie in Los Angeles.