Baseball: Ohtani, Nootbaar spark Japan in WBC warm-up win

Shohei Ohtani hit a pair of three-run home runs and Lars Nootbaar had two hits in their first Samurai Japan game before the World Baseball Classic, an 8-1 win over the Hanshin Tigers on Monday. With MLB players unable to participate in earlier games due to tournament rules, Ohtani, Nootbaar and Masataka Yoshida had to wait until the team’s first official tournament exhibition to take the field and left a mark on their opponents. Nootbaar and Ohtani thrilled the packed crowd at Kyocera Dome Osaka, starting in batting practice, and did not let up once the game started. Sosuke Genda sparked Japan…

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