2013 WBC Days 1 and 2 Recap

These first two days of the World Baseball Classic have had their share of surprises and good international baseball action. Pools A and B are both underway and through the first six games of the tournament Japan and Chinese Taipei both are in their respective pool's driver seat, while Brazil has dug themself a big hole at the bottom of Pool A. Here are the game-by-game recaps:

Day 1:

Chinese Taipei 4, Australia 1

To officially begin this year's Classic the Pool B hosts, Chinese Taipei, took on Australia. Taipei got the job done on the mound and by their bats. Chien-Ming Wang pitched fantastic, throwing six scoreless innings and only allowing four hits, along with recording two strikeouts. Wang was simply dominant and set the early framework for the Taipei bats to take over. Cheng-Min Peng got the scoring started early with an RBI-single in the bottom of the first to give his side the early 1-0 lead; he would later lead off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homerun to make it 4-0. The middle of the Taipei order followed Peng's lead as Chih-Sheng Lin and Szu-Chi Chou each had an RBI in the bottom of the third. Stefan Welch got the Aussies on the board with a solo home run in the top of the seventh; but too little, too late. Hung-Chih Kuo pitched a scoreless eigth inning and Hung-Wen Chen earned the save by recording a strikeout while pitching a clean ninth inning. Great start for Chinese Taipei as they go to 1-0 and Australia falls to 0-1.

Japan 5, Brazil 3

Japan entered as the two-time defending champions, but that didn't scare Brazil. Paulo Orlando would lead off the bottom of the first with an infield single and Leonardo Reginatto would follow two batters later with a RBI single to give the Brazilians an early 1-0 lead. Japan would score a run in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth; only for Reginatto to score on Reinaldo Sato's RBI single to tie it at two. Reginatto would continue to have his way with Japanese pitchers in the bottom of the fifth with his second RBI of the night, a double to left scoring Orlando for the second time, giving Brazil a 3-2 lead. This score would hold up until Japan came to bat in their half of the eighth inning. Seiichi Uchikawa led off with a single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice, and then Hirokazu Ibata came through with the tying RBI single. After a single and a walk the bases were loaded with one out for Shinnosuke Abe. He would give Japan the lead with an RBI fielder's choice, scoring Ibata. To add insurance, Nobuhiro Matsuda would follow with a RBI single to cap off a three run inning. Atsushi Nohmi and Kazuhisa Makita combine for three strikeouts and only allowed one hit in the last two innings to secure the comback victory. Despite Leonardo Reginatto's 3-4, 2 RBI, 1 Run scored night the Japanese pitchers had their way with the rest of the Brazilian lineup, recording eight strikeouts and holding the rest of the team to six hits. Japan starts 1-0 and Brazil falls to 0-1.

Netherlands 5, South Korea 0

The two Pool B favorites played a game that wasn't picture perfect, but still entertaining. South Korea's defense and unsuccessful attempts with runners in scoring position were major achilles' heels. South Korea would finish the night 0-5 with runners in scoring position and would commit four errors. South Korea would also struggle on offense by only getting four hits. Diego Markwell started and pitched great for the Dutch, four scoreless innings of two-hit ball while recording two strikeouts. OrlandoYntema also pitched solid for the Dutch, throwing three scoreless innings with only two hits. The Dutch offense had little trouble all game getting on base and producing runs. Curt Smith had a RBI sac fly in the bottom of the second, scoring Andruw Jones, to make it 1-0. Netherlands pulled away with a pair of two run innings, the fifth and seventh, to secure the win. Roger Bernadina had two RBI, Wladimir Balentin had a RBI and also scored a run, and Andruw Jones went 2-4 with with a Run scored to bolster the middle of the Dutch lineup in this upset. Netherlands goes to 1-0 and South Korea starts 0-1.

Day 2:

Cuba 5, Brazil 2

Upset-minded Brazil would try to bounce back and avoid an 0-2 hole, while being Cuba's opening opponent in the 2013 Classic. We were scoreless through the first four innings, as a result to great starts by Brazil's Andre Rienzo (4.2 innings, 1 hit, 2 earned runs, 4 walks, and 2 strikeouts) and Cuba's Ismel Jimenez (4.2 innings, 4 hits, and 6 strikeouts). Cuba would finally break through in the top of the fifth with Guillermo Heredia's one out-RBI groundout. Alexei Bell would follow with a RBI single to give Cuba a 2-0 lead. Cuba pulled away in their half of the sixth when they started the inning with back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch. With the bases loaded and no outs, Raul Gonzalez would have a RBI fielder's choice to make it 3-0. Erisbel Arruebarruena would follow with a two run-double to cap off a three run-sixth. Brazil would answer with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, one of them scored by Leonardo Reginatto, but it would not be enough. Raciel Iglesias would earn the save by pitching three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and striking out five. Cuba gets off to a good start (1-0) and Brazil falls into a huge hole at 0-2.

Chinese Taipei 8, Netherlands 3

This was a first round matchup with big implications because both of these teams entered with 1-0 records. The winner of this one takes firm control of Pool B and looks to be in pretty good shape to advance to the second round. In the top of the second the Dutch took advantage of Yao-Lin Wang's wildness by drawing three consecutive walks to load the bases with one out. Wei-Lun Pan would enter the game and on his first couple pitches would be his only mistakes of the entire game. His first pitch would hit Kalian Sams, scoring Andruw Jones from third to make it 1-0. Dashenko Ricardo would follow with a two run single to make it 3-0. Pan would settle down, recording the last two outs and dominating the rest of the way. Pan would pitch 4.2 innings, with Ricardo's two run single being his only allowed hit, and without giving up a run; Wang was charged with all three runs. Taipei would get a run in their half of the second and trailed 3-1 until the bottom of the fourth. Taipei would take control with a lead off walk followed by a double. Yung-Chi Chen would have a RBI single and a couple batters later Hung-Yu Lin would get a RBI hit-by-pitch to tie the game at three. Yen-Wen Kuo and Dai-Kang Yang each would have RBI sac flies to complete the four run inning. Chinese Taipei would pull away with a three run sixth, highlighted by Dai-Kang Yang's two run-home run. Chinese Taipei's bats stayed lively and produced eight runs on seven hits off of the Dutch, while six pitchers combine to hold the Netherlands to just one hit. Chinese Taipei moves into sole possession of first in Pool B with a 2-0 record, while Netherlands falls to 1-1.

Japan 5, China 2

Japan continued their dominance and took care of China early. Sho Nakata had a RBI single in the bottom of the second to give Japan a 1-0 lead. Japan exploded for a four run fifth inning, produced by Seiichi Uchikawa's RBI single and Yoshio Itoi's three run double. Japan's Kenta Maeda dominated the Chinese hitters, only allowing one hit and one walk over his five scoreless innings to go along with his six strikeouts on way to the win. China would score both of their runs in the ninth; off of a wild pitch and a Ray Chang RBI groundout. Both pitching was solid, only allowing a total of nine hits. With the win Japan gains complete control of Pool A with a 2-0 record, while China falls to 0-1.