Shohei Ohtani went hitless in two games, while Seiya Suzuki homered as Japan won the warm-up match.

In the second official warm‑up for the World Baseball Classic, Team Japan met the Hanshin Tigers at Osaka Dome today. Riding on the momentum of Seiya Suzuki’s first‑inning homer, they came away with a 5–4 win. Still, Shohei Ohtani went 0‑for‑2 at the plate, making him 0‑for‑5 across both exhibition games.

Unlike yesterday’s struggle against Orix pitchers, who held Japan scoreless until the fifth inning, Japan jumped ahead early today on Seiya Suzuki’s solo homer in the first. They added runs in the third, sixth, and seventh innings with timely hits, building a 5–0 lead.

Hanshin mounted a comeback in the bottom of the eighth, rallying against reliever Reiya Nakachi with four hits and a walk to plate four runs in the frame. Japan held on, though, to win 5–4, finishing the official warm‑ups with a 1–1 record. They will open the tournament against Chinese Taipei on March 6.

All eyes were on Shohei Ohtani, who batted lead‑off today but still couldn’t find his rhythm. After going 0‑for‑3 with a strikeout yesterday—including two fly‑outs—he went 0‑for‑2 today without getting the ball out of the infield, leaving him 0‑for‑5 overall.

Among other hitters, Kensuke Kondoh collected two hits, while Seiya Suzuki, Masataka Yoshida, Shota Morishita, and Keisuke Wakatsuki each added a hit. Kazuma Okamoto, who didn’t play yesterday, went 0‑for‑2 with a walk and a strikeout.

On the mound for Japan, starter Kotaro Takahashi threw two hitless innings with three strikeouts. Yumeoto Kanemaru allowed one hit and struck out one over three innings, Naoto Fujihira gave up one hit and fanned one in his inning, and Taisei Ota also tossed a scoreless inning with one strikeout.