After a lackluster stroll into the second round of the World Baseball Classic, defending champion Japan validated the team’s ticket to San Francisco, the final stop in its quest for a third title.

Japan pounded out 17 hits, including 6 home runs, on the way to demolishing the Netherlands, 16-4, on Sunday in a game stopped after the seventh inning when the 10-run mercy rule was invoked.

“Japan is known for small ball,” Yamamoto said. “But even I was surprised by six home runs.”

Yamamoto’s team had struggled to generate offense all tournament, mustering two extra-base hits in its previous four games. After a stirring extra-inning victory over Taiwan on Friday, the Japanese were hoping to carry that momentum to the game against the Netherlands. They did, and then some.

The first batter of the game, second baseman Takashi Toritani, drove starter Robbie Cordemans’s second pitch into the seats in right — a blast that sent the crowd into a fever that seemingly never ended. In the top of the second, homers by third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda and outfielder Seiichi Uchikawa ended the night for Cordemans.

“We saw a very good hitting team come out today,” Netherlands Manager Hensley Meulens said. “Our pitchers left balls up, and they capitalized on all those mistakes, and the game got out of hand very early.”

The winning pitcher, Kenta Maeda, the Central League’s leader in earned run average last season for the Hiroshima Carp, was strong through five innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine.

“I was conscious of not letting them get hits for extra bases by focusing on location,” Maeda said. “But it was thanks to my offense, which scored first, that I was able to develop confidence.”

Maeda’s repertory kept the Dutch off balance, including outfielder Wladimir Balentien, the Central League’s home run champion the last two seasons for the Yakult Swallows. Maeda sent him down on strikes twice.

“He’s a great pitcher,” said Balentien, who did manage to drive in three runs with a double in the sixth. “I’ve faced him a lot during the season. I know he has a great slider and great command. He showed it again tonight.”

The Dutch are not done. They will face Cuba on Monday to determine the final spot from the Tokyo round; the winner will go to AT&T Park in San Francisco for the start of the semifinals Sunday.

Cuba staved off elimination Saturday with a 14-0 thrashing of Taiwan. Monday’s game will be a chance to atone for Cuba, which lost to the Netherlands on Thursday.

With only two major league players on the Dutch roster, it would be easy to assume that the team that upset a powerful Dominican Republic team twice in the 2009 Classic is finally running out of magic. But that may not be the case.

“They are not a surprise anymore,” said Koen Greven, a writer for the Amsterdam-based newspaper NRC Handelsblad, referring to the victory over Cuba and a first-round win over South Korea. “They deserve to be here.

But to beat Cuba a second time, the Netherlands will have to play better defense. Against Cuba, the Dutch turned five double plays; on Sunday, they committed three errors.

They will also have to find a way to stop a Cuban lineup that bruised Taiwanese pitchers with four homers.

“We have to pitch better tomorrow,” Meulens said. “We have to keep the ball down and keep the ball in the ballpark. We gave up six home runs today. It’s hard to win like that.”

Japan’s next game is Tuesday, when it will play the Cuba-Netherlands winner to determine the top seed from Tokyo.

The day before is the second anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“I imagine the past two years have been tough,” said Yamamoto, referring to the residents of the devastated Tohoku area. “But what we can do is play hard in hopes of bringing some smiles. I hope we can send some kind of positive message as a team.”