Day 6 of the 2013 WBC saw First Round Pools C and D begin play and the Second Round Pool 1 open up. Days 6 and 7 have featured the biggest upset and the best game of this tournament to this point.
Day 6:
Italy 6, Mexico 5
Italia pulled of an electric comeback to begin
Pool D. The first inning was action packed with a total of five runs. Italy
took an early lead on Alex Liddi's RBI single. Two batters later, Mike
Costanzo would follow with a two out-RBI single to make it 2-0. Mexico
would be quick to answer in the bottom of the first. After three out of the
first four Mexican batters reached to load the bases with one out, Jorge
Cantu cleared them all with a three run double to put his side up 3-2. Ramiro
Pena hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second to extend the lead to
4-2. The scoring would pause for a little bit, until Drew Butera followed
a Mario Chiarini single with a two run home run to tie us at four.
Mexico would have a quick answer with Luis Cruz's RBI double in the
bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, 5-4. For a long time it appeared that
Cruz's double would hold up to be the winning hit, but we had to play a ninth
inning. Italy trailed 5-4 entering the top of the ninth. After a pinch-hitter
lead off with a groundout, Nick Punto would sky a double to deep left
field to put his team in business. Chris Denorfia followed with a
line-drive single, following a brutal battle with Mexican closer Sergio
Romo. With runners on first and third and one out, Anthony Rizzo
came up to bat. Rizzo delivered a deep shot to left field that would fall and
score both Punto and Denorfia, giving Italy a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the
ninth Jason Grilli had Mexico down to its final strike three different
times, but still had to face Jorge Cantu with the bases loaded and two
outs. After a adrenhaline-filled battle Grilli got Cantu to ground out to first
to end the game and give Italy a massive opening game win. Denorfia, Rizzo, and
Liddi each had two hits, while all nine starters for Italy had a hit. Anthony
Rizzo had the game-winning two run double in the top of the ninth to spurn
the comeback. Eduardo Arredondo, Ramiro Pena, and Adrian
Gonzalez each had two hits for Mexico. This was so far the craziest game
of the 2013 WBC. Italy starts 1-0 and Mexico is 0-1.Dominican Republic 9, Venezuela 3
This game was one of the most anticipated of the
first week, but was far from it. The Dominicans jumped out to an early 3-0 in
the bottom of the first off Robinson Cano's two run double. A couple
batters later Nelson Cruz would add an RBI single. Cano and Edwin
Encarnacion each would pick up an RBI in the bottom of the second to
extend the Domincans' lead to 5-0. Pablo Sandaval would answer with a
two run double in the top of the third to make it a 5-2 game. Venezuela would
add a run in the fourth to make it 5-3. Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home
run to leadoff the bottom of the fifth and would score on a Nelson Cruz
RBI double in the seventh. To seal the deal, Alejandro De Aza would
follow with a two run double in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-3. The
Dominican Republic flat-out dominated this game and were led by Jose Reyes
(4-5, 2 Runs) and Robinson Cano (3-5, Run, and 3 RBI). Cruz had two
hits with two RBI and Hanley Ramierez chipped in with a solo home run.
Dominican Republic starts 1-0, while Venezuela is 0-1.Netherlands 6, Cuba 2
The Dutch and Cubans squared off in the opening
game of the second round Pool 1. The second round is a modified double
elimination, making the opening game even more important. In a game that
featured Cuba as the undefeated-heavy favorites, it was the Kingdom of the
Netherlands who would flex their strength. The Dutch looked to threaten in the
top of the first when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Xander
Bogaerts would ground out to end the inning. Cuba managed a couple of hits
in their half of the first, but would also fail to score. Both teams would
leadoff their half of the second inning with a solo home run, Curt Smith
for Netherlands and Alfredo Despaigne for Cuba, but the Dutch would
have a 2-1 lead after two. Kalian Sams would follow Smith's home run
with a double and would advance to third on a sac bunt. Andrelton Simmons
would come through with a RBI single, scoring Sams, to make it 2-1. This would
be the score until an orange and black explosion took place in the top of the
sixth. Kalian Sams would start the rally with his one out-double. He
would advance to third on a fly out, which was followed by an Andrelton
Simmons walk. Jonathan Schoop came to the plate after a Cuban
pitching change and his bat would supply the power needed to do some damage.
With runners on first and third with two outs, Schoop belted one 394 feet to
left field for a three run home run; breaking the game wide open for the Dutch.
Diegomar Markwell started for the Netherlands and other than allowing
a leadoff home run in the second he had his way with the Cuban hitters,
allowing one run on nine hits and one walk in six strong innings of work. To
add to his impressive outing Markewll did not record a strikeout and conducted
three 1-2-3 innings en route to his second win if the tournament. Yulieski Gurriel
would hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the defecit
(5-2), but Jonathan Schoop would get the run back with his RBI double
in the top of the eighth to make it 6-2. This game saw a total of 26 hits (14
for Netherlands) and the outstanding performer was Jonathan Schoop who
went 3-6 with with 4 RBI. Wladimir Balentin, Andruw Jones,
Sams, Smith, and Simmons each had two hits for Netherlands. Alfredo
Despaigne continued his tear for Cuba as he led them going 1-4 with a solo
home run. Netherlands is one win from a spot in the semifinals as they go to
1-0, while Cuba is 0-1 and will play in the 0-1 elimination game verse the
loser of Chinese Taipei and Japan.Day 7:
Japan 4, Chinese Taipei 3 F/10
An early start to Day 7 gave us the first extra inning-game of this year's
Classic. The stakes for this game where as follows: the winner moves on to face
Netherlands in a game to clinch a spot into the semifinals, and the loser plays
Cuba in an elimination game. Chien-Ming Wang got Taipei off to another
dominant start pitching six scoreless innings, only allowing six hits and a
walk to go with one strikeout. His offense would come through in the bottom of
the third. Yen-Wen Kuo would lead off with a double and advance to
third on a sacrifice. A base on balls and hit by pitch would follow to load the
bases with one out. After a foul out, Szu-Chi Chou would draw a walk
to pick up and RBI and give Taipei a 1-0 lead. Cheng-Min Peng would
make it 2-0 with his RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Chinese Taipei
looked to be in control but that would change when Wang left after the sixth.
Japan trailed 2-0 in the top of the eighth, but their bats came alive against
the Taipei bullpen. Japan started off the inning with three straight singles,
which included and RBI single by Shinnosuke Abe to cut the defecit in
half. With two on and two out, Hayato Sakamoto would tie the game with
a RBI single. Taipei entered their half of the eighth tied at two but they
would answer back with three consecutive hits of their own, capped by Szu-Chi
Chou's RBI single to retake the lead. Despite the having two men on base
for most of the inning Chinese Taipei was unable to add to their lead which
would prove costly. Japan trailed 3-2 entering the top of the ninth and was
three outs away from having to face a Cuba team who beat them in Pool A play. Takashi
Toritani would draw a walk with one out, and then he stole second to put
himself into scoring positon with two outs. This would pay huge as Toritani
would come across to score a couple pitches later on Hirokazu Ibata's
RBI single, tying the game at three. Taipei would waste a leadoff single in the
bottom of the ninth and we went to extra innings. Japan would get off to
another fantastic start in the top of the tenth with the first two men that
came to bat both reaching base. A sacrifice would advance the runners to second
and third. Sho Nakata would give Japan its first lead with a RBI sac
fly to score Nobuhiro Matsuda, making it 4-3. Chinese Taipei would
have back-to-back singles to make it first and second with out, but Japan's Toshiya
Sugiuchi would force a game-ending double play to secure the win. Japan
goes to 1-0, while Chinese Taipei is 0-1 and will face Cuba in an elimination
game.Italy 14, Canada 4 F/8
The tournament darlings continued their dominance in Arizona with another
upset victory. Anthony Rizzo got things started early with a RBI
groundout in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0 Italy. Pete Orr's
RBI double in the second tied the game at one and Italy retook the lead in the
bottom of the third on Alex Liddi's RBI single. Chris Colabello
would follow with a three run home run to cap of the four run inning. All the
damage for Italia came with two outs and would give them a commanding 5-1 lead.
Italy and Canada would trade runs in the middle innings and Italy would take a
6-2 lead into the top of the seventh. Mike Saunders would make things
interesting with a two run single to cut the defecit in half. Italy would
respond with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, all coming with two outs
to make it a comfortable 9-4 lead. Italy would take care of business with a
five run eighth inning that had seven Italians come to bat and seven Italians
reaching base. Mike Costanzo would make some noise with a two run
ground-rule double and Mario Chiarini would invoke the mercy rule with
his RBI single. Italy was led by Chris Colabello who went 4-5 with a
home run, two doubles and four RBI. Italy scored 14 runs on 17 hits which
included six Italians who each had two hits. Italy moves into the driver's
seat of Pool D with a 2-0 record, Canada falls to 0-1.Puerto Rico 3, Spain 0
This was the opening game in Pool C for each team.
On paper this appeared to be a mismatch and after the first inning that's what
it looked like it was going to be. Puerto Rico jumped out to an early 3-0 lead
on Carlos Beltran's RBI double, Mike Aviles' RBI sac fly, and
a bases loaded walk by Carlos Rivera. Puerto Rico would scatter base
runners througout the game but failed to produce another run, while their
pitchers simply dominated Spain. Puerto Rico's Starter Giancarlo Alvarado
set the tone for the rest of the staff, throwing four scoreless innings while
allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. Hiram Burgos followed,
throwing 4.2 innings of four-hit ball with three strikeouts. Neither team could
muster much offense as Spain finished with five hits and Puerto Rico had six
hits. Puerto Rico starts 1-0, while Spain is 0-1.Mexico 5, USA 2
The game that was highly anticipated, the opener
for the U.S., it was Mexico pulling off a much-needed upset. Mexico got things
started early against R.A. Dickey with their first two batters each
getting a hit against the knuckleballer. Luis Cruz would have a RBI
sac fly, and Adrian Gonzalez would follow with a RBI groundout to
create a 2-0 lead. Yovani Gallardo dominated the Americans, allowing
two hits and one run with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings and forcing the
Americans to go down in order through the first three innings. Adrian
Gonzalez would break it open in the top of the third with a two run home
run to make it 4-0. David Wright got the U.S. on the board with a two
out-RBI single in the fourth, but Luis Cruz would answer with his
second RBI sac fly in the top of the fifth to make it 5-1. Eric Hosmer
would have a RBI single in the eighth but it would be too little, too late for
the United States. Gallardo set the tone for the Mexican pitchers and the
bullpen followed by only allowing six hits and one run in 5.2 innings. Eduardo
Arredondo led Mexico with three hits, Luis Cruz had two RBI, and Adrian
Gonzalez would have one hit, three RBI, and three walks. Jimmy Rollins,
Joe Mauer, and David Wright led America with two hits apiece.
R.A. Dickey got hit as in four innings he gave up six hits and four
runs while only recording two strikeouts. Mexico saves their tournament as
they go to 1-1, while the U.S. starts 0-1. 
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