usa baseball is waking up to a jolt out of Tokyo after Shohei Ohtani powered Japan to a 13-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the opening game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The game unfolded Friday inside Tokyo Dome in front of a sellout crowd of 42, 314, and it ended early under the mercy rule after Japan’s offense overwhelmed the field. The why is simple: Ohtani delivered immediate damage, then Japan’s second inning turned into a record-setting avalanche.
Ohtani’s first-pitch double, then a grand slam that blew the game open
Japan did not score in the first inning, but the tone was set instantly when Ohtani attacked the first pitch he saw and ripped a double down the right-field line. The double came off the bat at 117. 1 mph exit velocity, as documented by the World Baseball Classic account in a game clip tied to the event’s official branding.
The decisive break arrived in the second inning. After a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Ohtani came up and punished a 2-1 pitch from Chinese Taipei pitcher Hao-Chun Cheng. The pitch was a hanging curveball, and Ohtani drove it 368 feet for a grand slam, igniting a 10-run inning that effectively settled the contest.
Japan kept pouring it on. Before the inning even ended, Ohtani came back up and—this time against pitcher Chih-Wei Hu—delivered a run-scoring single that pushed the lead to 10-0. Not even through two full innings, Ohtani already had five RBI and sat a triple short of the cycle.
Record inning, mercy-rule finish, and the next games on the schedule
Japan’s 10-run second inning set a World Baseball Classic record for most runs in a single inning. The previous record was eight, shared by the U. S. and Cuba. Ohtani’s five RBI within that second inning also set a record for RBI in a single inning.
Japan’s lead reached 13-0 by the end of the third inning, and Ohtani’s final line of damage stopped there. In his fourth and final at-bat, he lined out to first. Teruaki Sato later pinch-hit for Ohtani in the top of the seventh, and the game was ended due to the mercy rule.
Next on the official schedule: Japan plays Saturday at 5 a. m. ET against Korea, while Chinese Taipei returns Friday at 10 p. m. ET against Czechia.
Immediate reactions on the field: the only thing Chinese Taipei could not avoid
The most direct “reaction” came in the sequence itself: Chinese Taipei’s pitchers were forced into a rapid turnover under pressure, from Hao-Chun Cheng—tagged for the 368-foot grand slam on a hung curveball—to Chih-Wei Hu, who surrendered the run-scoring single that made it 10-0.
From Japan’s side, the clearest message was delivered with the bat. The opening-pitch double and the second-inning grand slam weren’t isolated highlights; they were the spark for a record inning that didn’t allow Chinese Taipei any path back into the game.
Quick context and what’s next for usa baseball fans watching the bracket
This was Japan’s opening game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and it ended as a shutout, 13-0, on the mercy rule. The early storyline is Ohtani’s offensive show paired with Japan rewriting the tournament record book in a single inning.
Attention now shifts to the next two time slots: Japan’s Saturday 5 a. m. ET game against Korea, and Chinese Taipei’s Friday 10 p. m. ET game against Czechia. For usa baseball followers tracking the WBC’s early signals, the immediate question is whether any opponent can slow an offense that just produced a 10-run inning—and whether Japan carries this pace into the next matchup.
