TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Shugo Maki #2 of Team Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Shugo Maki #2 of Team Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Manager Hirokazu Ibata #89 of Team Japan calls a batting change in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Shota Morishita #23 of Team Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Yuhei Nakamura #27 of Team Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Taisei Makihara #5 of Team Japan hits a single in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)

TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 10: Yuhei Nakamura #27 of Team Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Czechia and Japan at Tokyo Dome on March 10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Japan's Kenya Wakatsuki hits a doubles during the World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C game between Japan and Czech Republic at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images)