Japan scored two unearned runs with two outs in the fourth inning on a foggy night at Petco Park when Cuban center fielder Yoennis Cespedes committed a two-base error on Michihiro Ogasawara's high fly ball.

Even though it was hit into heavy fog and Cespedes had a long run, he seemed to see the ball and had it in his glove before it popped out, glanced off his cap and rolled to the wall.

Japan joins South Korea, Venezuela and the United States in the semifinals. Japan will play Korea on Thursday night at Petco Park to determine the seedings from Group 1. South Korea clinched its spot in the semis with a 4-1 win over Japan on Tuesday night.

It was the first time since 1951 that the Cubans failed to reach the finals of a major international competition. They had made the finals 40 straight times in the IBAF World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, the Olympics and the WBC.

'It meant a lot,' Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara said. 'It was a big deal for us. It will be left in history. I have great respect for Cuba.'

Cuban manager Higinio Velez skipped the postgame news conference but issued a statement.

'I would like to congratulate the Japanese team for their great victory tonight. They were much better than us, and that's why they deserved the victory. They do deserve to go on to the finals. So the only thing left for us to do is to continue to fight for our great game, baseball.' -- AP