WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: IT'S JAPAN'S WORLD VICTORY OVER CUBA GIVES IT CHAMPIONSHIP JAPAN 10, CUBA 6.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO - Japan needed an assist from the U.S. to get to the championship game of the World Baseball Classic. It needed a clutch hit from Ichiro Suzuki to ignite a big inning.

Nursing a one-run lead, Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners star, hit a one-out, run-scoring single to right field to give Japan some breathing room, and pinch-hitter Kosuke Fukudome followed with a two-run single to left and a one-run game turned into a rout.

Japan went on to a 10-6 victory on Monday in front of 42,696 at Petco Park.

Munenori Kawasaki scored on Suzuki's hit on an awkward play at the plate in which his right hand touched home between the legs of catcher Eduardo Paret.

Japan had a commanding 6-1 lead after five innings but it was whittled away to just one in the eighth. Frederich Cepeda hit a two-run homer to left field in the eighth off Japanese reliever Soichi Fujita with one out. Chants of ``Cuba!'' christened Petco. But Japan was too much.

The first half of the first inning was maddening for fans who enjoy pitchers who work quickly. Cuba used three pitchers in the top of the inning, which took 30 minutes. It was worth it for Japan.

Japan hit the ball out of the infield just once, yet still scored four runs. With the bases loaded, Hitoshi Tamura was hit by a pitch on the arm. After Tomoya Satozaki struck out, Michihiro Ogasawar drew a walk. Toshiaki Imae hit a hard single up the middle to score two runs for a 4-0 lead.

Easy enough.

The game was almost sold out for weeks when no one knew who'd be playing at Petco. And both Japan and Cuba nearly missed out on the final round. Had the U.S. won its final game against Mexico in the second round, the U.S. would've advanced. But, the U.S. lost 2-1 and Japan won the tiebreaker.

Cuba almost didn't play in the tournament. At one point, the U.S. excluded Cuba from participating in the tournament until the U.S. Treasury Department granted a license to appease the U.S. government that Cuba would not benefit financially.

Paret homered off Daisuke Matsuzaka to start the bottom of the first inning to cut the lead to 4-1. Matsuzaka pitched well, allowing just one earned run on four hits through four innings. He struck out five and didn't walk any. His lone mistake was the Paret home.

``It was my first experience to pitch in the game with the world championship on the line,'' Matsuzaka said. ``I was going to feel a lot of pressure as this is something you would not be able to purchase it. I did not feel much (pressure) when I got up on the mound.''

Japan shortstop Munenori Kawasaki made fielding errors which allowed Cuba leadoff batters to reach base in the sixth and seventh innings. Cuba scored twice in the sixth but a double play in the seventh got Japan out of more trouble in the seventh.

It was a star-studded event, even though the game featured only two Major League Baseball players - Suzuki and Akinori Otsuka. But the inaugural classic featured two of the greatest players of all time. Hank Aaron and Japanese manager Sadaharu Oh were on the same field, a rare opportunity for baseball enthusiasts.

Aaron and Oh hit a combined 1,623 home runs in their respective professional careers. Aaron owns the major-league record with 755 and Oh hit 868 in Japan.

Monday's game was the culmination of what Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who championed the World Baseball Classic, considered quite a successful inaugural tournament. The WBC drew 737,112 fans over 39 games for an average of 18,900 per game.

The WBC could be in store for a few minor changes when it plays again in four years but Selig still doesn't believe there's any reason to play at a different time. And judging by the numbers for the inaugural event, there doesn't seem to be a need to change it.

``The intensity in the stands as well as the intensity on the playing field has been absolutely remarkable,'' Selig said. ``I'm not sure that going into it you could have felt that. I'm very confident that this will be the platform that we use to take this sport internationally to the dimension that I want to take it and I believe that we will.''

Fans in Cuba liked it, too. ESPN had a live shot of fans watching on a big outdoor screen in Havana.

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Cuba catcher Ariel Pestano looks back to make the tage as Japan's Munenon Kawasaki is safe at home.

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press