The World Baseball Classic ended in style, with perhaps the two best players in all of baseball engaging in a showdown with two outs in the ninth inning.
Mike Trout came to the plate and prepared to face his Los Angeles Angels teammate in two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani ultimately won the battle, putting Trout away with an 87-mph slider on a 3-2 pitch.
It seems only fitting that the Classic ended in such a fashion, and it drew rave reviews from players and fans alike from all around the globe.
On Twitter, Justin Turner commented on how special the end of the game between Japan and Team USA was and expressed support for his Boston Red Sox teammate in Masataka Yoshida, hoping he would earn WBC MVP honors.
Pretty cool matchup to end the @WBCBaseball The tournament was fantastic and hopefully there our kids all over the world dreaming of wearing their countries colors while playing this amazing game! Kudos to everyone involved.
P.S. #MasaForMVP ⚾️
— Justin Turner (@redturn2) March 22, 2023
Unfortunately, Turner did not get his wish in terms of who won the MVP Award for the tournament.
Instead of Yoshida, it went to Ohtani.
However, Turner is simply echoing the sentiments of so many around the game of baseball and the world.
That ending truly was special and nobody would want it any other way.
It was simply the two best players in all of baseball going at it.
Though normally teammates, the Classic pitted the two stars against each other.
And the final showdown was certainly worth the wait.
The two stars gave it everything they had and refused to give even an inch.
Ultimately, Ohtani emerged victorious when he struck out his Halos teammate and secured the title for Japan.
But it truly was an exciting tournament full of many twists and turns.
NEXT: Red Sox Congratulate Their New Star On A WBC Title
