World Baseball Classic Championship Game - Japan vs. Korea

Despite a multitude of other sports that may have the average American’s sporting attention more than the 2009 World Baseball Classic, this year’s event, the second of its kind, has been nothing short of an amazing!

Both on the field and in the BetUS Sportsbook, the 2009 World Baseball Classic has been a series of thrilling matchups between each country’s best baseball players that has mostly left viewers all over the globe, either slack-jawed in amazement or taut with tension due to the plethora of close games and frantic finishes.

For those that have missed the majority of the this year’s World Baseball Classic, tonight’s championship matchup between the defending-champion Team Japan and 2008 Olympic champion Team Korea, will provide one final opportunity to catch a glimpse of some of the world’s best baseball players while making one final WBC wager in the BetUS Sportsbook that should serve as a solid betting precursor to the 2009 MLB regular season wagering period.

After splitting four games during this World Baseball Classic, Japan and Korea will hook up for the fifth and final time tonight in the WBC Championship title contest which gets underway 9 PM ET at Dodger Stadium.

Japan beat Team USA 9-4 on Sunday to reach the final while Korea spanked Venezuela 10-2, in the other semifinal game on Saturday.

Overall, Korea holds a 4-3 advantage over Japan in two Classics, although Japan defeated Korea in a single-elimination semifinal game three years ago on its way to the inaugural championship.

On Sunday, the Japanese won by playing fundamental baseball and using strong starting pitching, this time from Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka who moved to a perfect 6-0 in two classics.

We came up with strategies and were able to come up with variations of the strategies," Hara said. "I believe that was apparent today. We were able to get the big win." Korea left-hander, Jung Keun Bong, the championship game starter, has already defeated Japan twice during this year’s classic while posting a 0.84 ERA in 10 2/3 innings along with three strikeouts and just six hits allowed.

Korea has scored a tournament-high 50 runs while also playing stellar defense smarts on the basepaths. Instead of facing scheduled starter Yu Darvish, Korea will go up against Hisashi Iwakuma in the final on Monday. Korea won a coin toss Sunday night to be declared the home team.

WBC Odds

Korea +1 ½ -160

Japan -1 ½ +120

Over 7 -105

Under 7 -115

Analysis: Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, these two teams have faced each other 15 times in international play, with Korea winning eight games and Japan taking seven. In those games Japan has scored 38 runs while Korea has scored 35 runs, a telling statistic that says tonight’s game will once again be another thriller. As I expect a one-run differential between the teams, I say underdog Korea covers the run line while two terrific pitchers keep tonight’s 7-run O/U total Under the spread. Still, I like Japan to win in an absolute thriller.

WBC Free Picks: Japan 3 Korea 2