Japan rallies to beat Brazil

Host opens World Baseball Classic

By The Sports Xchange
POSTED: 10:37 AM PST Mar 02, 2013    UPDATED: 04:48 AM PST Mar 03, 2013 
Baseball Field Generic Base
FUKUOKA, Japan -

Host Japan rallied in the eighth inning to beat Brazil 5-3 Saturday in a World Baseball Classic game.

Japan, which has won the two previous WBC tournaments, scored three times in the eighth inning after trailing 3-2.

Hirokazu Ibata tied the game with an RBI single to score Seiichi Uchikawa from second base. Japan took the lead when Ibata scored from third base on a fielder's choice. Nobuhiro Matsuda's RBI single plated Hisayoshi Chono to make it 5-3.

Reliever Tadashi Settsu picked up the win.

Leonardo Reginatto went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Paulo Orlando had two hits and scored twice for Brazil.

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