Japan improved to 2-0 at the WBC, slugging four home runs in an 8-6 win over South Korea.

TOKYO (AP) — This is the Shohei Ohtani effect. Ohtani put on a giant show in batting practice hours before he hit a grand slam in the second inning — in the first he doubled on the first pitch of the game but didn’t score — as Japan hammered Taiwan 13-0 in Pool C at the World Baseball Classic.

Shohei Ohtani crushed a grand slam in Samurai Japan's World Baseball Classic opener, with Timothée Chalamet and Bad Bunny in attendance.

TOKYO — Defending champion Japan hit four home runs — two by Chicago Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki — to beat South Korea 8-6 on Saturday and stay undefeated in Pool C of the World Baseball Classic. Shohei Ohtani and Masataka Yoshida also homered for Japan.

Japan's Shohei Ohtani homered for a second straight game. Toru Hanai / TOKYO — At risk of facing what would have been a devastating loss, the hosts and defending World Baseball Classic champions Japan escaped with an 8-6 win over Korea on Saturday inside the Tokyo Dome.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is in Tokyo for the WBC, and on Sunday morning, he and Team Japan will receive an honor from the Emperor of Japan.

One pitch changed Ondřej Satoria’s life -- and he thought it was a mistake. Facing Shohei Ohtani in the Tokyo Dome three years ago, Satoria -- an electrical controller at ČEZ Group in Ostrava, a city on the border of Poland – threw his changeup,

Japan was able to clinch a quarterfinals berth in the World Baseball Classic thanks to a late home run from Masataka Yoshida.