With Ohtani and Yamamoto playing, the World Series averaged a record 12.9 million viewers in Japan

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto making their first appearance, the World Series averaged 12.9 million viewers in Japan, making it the most-watched Fall Classic in the nation’s history.

Along with the United States ratings, the five-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees had a combined 28.7 million average in the two countries.

The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 averaged 15.9 million in Japan, making it the most-watched postseason game in the nation’s history, according to Major League Baseball. Yamamoto was the Dodgers’ starting pitcher and allowed only one run and one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

Tokyo is 19 hours ahead of New York and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, meaning the games started around 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday morning in Japan. The games were carried through Fuji TV, NHK BS and J Sports.

The Series also delivered record viewership in Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan, according to MLB.

The World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers in the U.S. on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, its best performance since 2017. That is a 67% increase over last year, when the Texas Rangers’ victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged only 9.11 million, which was the lowest-recorded Series average.

Los Angeles was the top market with a 18.9 rating and 53 share while New York was third with a 12.4 rating and 41 share. San Diego was second at 12.4 and 41.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to a percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

Fox and FS1 averaged 7.49 million for the postseason, a 42% jump over last year, and its best average in seven years.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb