Originally published March 23, 2009 at 10:46 PM | Page modified March 24, 2009 at 12:13 AM

Ichiro of the Mariners lifts Japan to another WBC title

The World Baseball Classic belongs to Japan.

By The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES

Ichiro Suzuki of Japan lays down a sacrafice bunt in the seventh inning of the finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Korea on March 23, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Video recap | Watch Ichiro's game-winning hit

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LOS ANGELES — The World Baseball Classic belongs to Japan.

Again.

Mariners standout Ichiro hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, and Japan beat reigning Olympic champion Korea 5-3 Monday night to win its second consecutive WBC title before a boisterous crowd of 54,846 at Dodger Stadium.

Japan won the inaugural tournament three years ago, beating Cuba 10-6 in the final at Petco Park in San Diego.

Korea had tied the score at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Bum Ho Lee's run-scoring single off Japanese closer Yu Darvish (2-1), who got in trouble by issuing one-out walks to Hyun-Soo Kim and Tae Kyun Kim, the 3-4 hitters in the lineup.

Darvish struck out Shin-Soo Choo, a former Mariner, before Lee lined a 1-1 pitch into left field, with pinch runner Jong Wook Lee scoring easily from second.

Ichiro managed to foul off a pitch after it had bounced and lined the eighth pitch of the at-bat from Chang Yong Lim to center in the 10th for his fourth hit of the game.

Ichiro is 6 for 10 in two WBC championship games.

Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka won the most valuable player award for the second consecutive time after going 3-0 — the same record he had in the inaugural WBC. The Boston Red Sox right-hander had a 2.45 earned-run average in 14-2/3 innings over three starts.

Korea beat Japan twice last summer in the Beijing Olympics en route to the gold medal. The Koreans also beat Japan twice in the inaugural WBC before the Japanese won their semifinal matchup. And Korea beat Japan 3-1 to win the bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics after losing to its rival 8-0 earlier in the Games.

Japan, which outhit Korea 15-5, blew several scoring opportunities and stranded 14 runners.

Choo, who plays for the Cleveland Indians, tied the score at 1 with a home run in the fifth inning. It was his second homer in two games.

South Korea advanced to the championship game by beating Venezuela 10-2 Saturday night, and Japan earned its berth by topping the U.S. 9-4 Sunday night.

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