The ‘Samurai Japan’ Japanese national baseball team, which will participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), struggled in a warm-up match against the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Orix Buffaloes.
Japan, led by manager Hirokazu Ibata, knelt 3-4 against Orix in a warm-up match held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 2nd.
This match is an official warm-up match organized by the WBC Secretariat. Japan, the winner of the 2023 tournament, is expected to raise its sense of play by facing the Hanshin Tigers at the same venue on the 3rd.
사진 확대 Ohtani went 0 for 3 in the warm-up match against Orix. Photo (AP) = Yonhap News 
사진 확대 Kikuchi, who struggled against Orix in the warm-up match. Photo (AP) = Yonhap News
On this day, Japan was shaken from the beginning. This was why left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (LA Angels), who is likely to start against Korea, slowed down. He gave up three runs (two earned runs) after getting four hits in the bottom of the first inning.
Japan, which was hit hard, started its chase in the top of the fifth inning. Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) fired a solo shot.
Orix, however, rarely allowed a chase. He added one run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Japan, which was in a hurry, caught up with a point with Kenya Wakatsuki’s RBI timely hit in the top of the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth inning, with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, Maki Shugo hit an RBI timely hit, but the first baseman was tagged out at home and did not reach the tie.
Although Japan is the defending champion, overall performance in both pitching and batting has not yet been on track. Starting pitcher Kikuchi bowed his head with six hits, two strikeouts, three runs and two earned runs in four innings. Superstar Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) also had no hits in three at-bats.
Meanwhile, Japan belonged to Group C with the South Korean national baseball team led by coach Ryu Ji-hyun in the first round of the 2026 WBC. South Korea, which will hold its first match against the Czech Republic on Saturday, will take a break on Sunday and then face off against Japan on Sunday. South Korea, which had a 3-3 warm-up match against Hanshin on the 2nd, will play another warm-up match against Orix on the 3rd and play its last mock test before the tournament.
사진 확대 Japan will face the South Korean national baseball team led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun on the 7th. Photo (AP) = Yonhap News
[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]