Day 11:
Japan 10, Netherlands 6
Both of these teams had already clinched their spots in the semifinals, but there was still a lot at stake in this one. The winner of this game wins Pool 1 which puts them in the semifinal on Sunday night, while the loser will be in the second semifinal on Monday night. It was the Netherlands who struck first in this second rematch when Andrelton Simmons led off the top of the first with a solo home run. Japan's starter Kenji Otonari would settle down, striking out the next four hitters and five out of the six he would face in the first and second innings. Japan would once again flex their muscles to the Dutch with an eight run-bottom of the second. Shinnosuke Abe would begin an eight run inning with his solo home run to tie the game at one. The next three Japanese batters would all reach base via walk, hit by pitch, and bunt single. With the bases loaded and one out, Nobuhiro Matsuda would line a RBI single to center and Hisayoshi Chono would follow with his bases-clearing three run double to break it open. With two on and two out Shinnosuke Abe would make World Baseball Classic history with a three run home run, becoming the first player in this tournament's history to hit two home runs in the same inning. The score would remain 8-1, until the Dutch put together a little rally in the top of the seventh. Xander Bogaerts would come to the plate with runners on second and third with no outs, and drive in a run on an infield single to cut the defecit to 8-2. The Dutch would squander this opportunity, only scoring one more run in the inning. The Netherlands would make more noise in the eighth to make this one close. Curt Smith drove in a run while ground out and Kalian Sams would follow with a RBI single to make it a 8-5 game. Bogaerts would extend the inning with a two out-double and Quintin De Cuba would follow with a RBI single to keep the inning alive. The Netherlands would bring the potential go-ahead run come to the plate, but he would strike out to end the inning. Japan would get some insurance in their half of the eighth with Hisayoshi Chono's two run single. The Netherlands would once again threaten Japan's in the top of the ninth, but was unable to score. Xander Bogaerts and Kalian Sams each had two hits with a RBI to lead the Dutch. Kenji Otonari was dominant, only allowing Simmons' lead off home run in the first and a walk to go along with six strike outs in three innings to get the win. Hisayoshi Chono had two hits with five RBI and Shinnosuke Abe had his solo and three run home runs to lead Japan. Japan finishes Pool 1 with a 3-0 record to earn a spot in semifinal 1 where they will face the Pool 2 runner-up on Sunday night. The Netherlands finishes the runner-up with a 2-2 record and will face the Pool 2 winner in the Monday night semifinal.Second Round: Pool 1 Final Standings
Pool 1
*Japan 3-0
Netherlands 2-2
x-Cuba 1-2
x-Chinese Taipei 0-2
* denotes Pool winner, teams in color advance to the championship round.
Dominican Republic 5, Italy 4
This was the opening game in Pool 2 of the second round. In this modified double elimination format the stakes were simple: the loser plays in the elimination game on Day 12, while the winner plays for a spot in the semifinals on Thursday night. The Dominicans were the heavy favorites in this one, and for most of the afternoon it appeared Italy would pull of the upset. Italy did all of their damage in the top of the first, taking advantage of Edinson Volquez throwing twelve consecutive balls to walk the bases loaded with the first the batters. Alex Liddi would hit a RBI sac fly to right to drive in the first Italian run, and Chris Colabello would follow with a 437 foot-three run home run to center, making it 4-0. The Italian starter Tiago Da Silva pitched very well in this one, scattering five hits and two runs in 5.1 innings while striking out three. His only major mistakes would come on a pair of lead off solo home runs. Jose Reyes would drive one 417 feet to right in the bottom of the third to get the Dominicans on the board, and Robinson Cano's solo shot in the sixth made it 4-2. Other than the first inning, the Italian offense struggled to get base runners and relied on their pitching to try and pull out the victory. The Italian bullpen run into problems in the bottom of the seventh when Jose Reyes, Erick Aybar, and Robinson Cano hit three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out. Edwin Encarnacion would draw a walk to score Reyes and cut another run into the Italian lead. Hanley Ramirez would tie the game on a RBI sac fly and the Dominicans would take the lead on Nelson Cruz's RBI single. Santiago Casilla and Fernando Rodney would shut down Italy's offense in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the 5-4 win for the Dominicans. Da Silva's performance on the mound and Chris Colabello's three run home run were the only highlights for Italy. Each member of the middle of Dominican's lineup had a RBI. The Dominican Republic goes to 1-0, while Italy falls to 0-1 and will play the loser of Puerto Rico/USA in an elimination game.USA 7, Puerto Rico 1
In the other opening game of the second round's Pool 2, the Americans wasted no time putting their warm bats into action. Ryan Braun would draw a two out walk and would score on Joe Mauer's RBI double to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. David Wright would have a RBI groundout in the bottom of the third to make it a two run lead, which would be more than enough insurance with Gio Gonzalez on the mound. Gonzalez was great, only allowing three hits in five scorelesss innings, while striking out five on way to the win. David Wright would record his second RBI with a one out-single in the bottom of the fifth to extend the U.S. lead to 3-0. The United States bullpen didn't miss a beat, scattering four hits in their four innings of work and keeping the Puerto Rican hitters off balance. The U.S would take a 4-0 lead to the top of the eighth when Puerto Rico would have their best threat of the night. The lead off man, Jesus Feliciano, got hit by a pitch and Eddie Rosario would follow with a double to bring the top of the order up with two in scoring position with no outs. Angel Pagan would have a RBI ground out to make it a 4-1 game, but that would be it as Puerto Rico was unable to do anymore damage in the inning. David Wright would continue his quest as "Captain America" with a bases-clearing three run double in the bottom of the eighth to erase any doubt for the Americans. Craig Kimbrel would retire the Puerto Ricans in order in the ninth to secure the 7-1 U.S. win. Eddie Rosario led Puerto Rico with two hits, but it was David Wright who stole the show with his two hits and five RBI. Joe Mauer also added a hit, a RBI, and drew three walks. The U.S. goes to 1-0 and will face the Dominican Republic on Thursday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line, while Puerto Rico falls to 0-1 and will play Italy in the 0-1 elimination game.Day 12:
Puerto Rico 4, Italy 3
Day 12 consisted of one game, but didn't fail to provide drama. Italy and Puerto Rico squared off Wednesday night in an Pool 2 elimination game, where the loser's tournament will come to an end and the winner advances to another elimination game on Friday night. Puerto Rico would do something that no one else was able to do in this tournament and that was keeping Italy from scroing a first inning-run. Both starters, Alex Maestri for Italy and
Giancarlo Alvarado for Puerto Rico, put on a pitcher's duel that left us scoreless through four innings. The Italian bats would come to life in the top of fifth when Athony Granato led of with a single. Nick Punto would reach on a catcher's interference and Chris Denorfia would single to right to load the bases with one out. Puerto Rico would pull Alvarado from the game and bring in Xavier Cedeno to face Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo would provide the spark with a base-clearin three run double to deep center, scoring three runs to give Italy a 3-0 lead. Maestri would get an out in the fifth before exiting in favor of Chris Cooper. The bottom of the sixth was an inning Italian shortstop Anthony Granato would like to forget, three straight pitches were hit has way and all three batters reached base safely. With the bases loaded and one out, Carlos Rivera would get a drive in a run on Granato's throwing error to get Puerto Rico their first run. Italy's 3-1 lead would hold up until the bottom of the eighth when Puerto Rico would produce a three run rally. Carlos Beltran walked and Yadier Molina followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Mike Aviles would drive in Beltran on a RBI groundout to cut the defecit to one. Alex Rios would single to to right to put runners on the corners with one out. Italy would bring in their third pitcher of the inning, but Pat Venditte wouldn't have much more success than the first two pitchers used in the inning. Luis Figueroa's RBI sac fly would tie the game at three and Andy Gonzalez would give Puerto Rico the lead for good with his RBI single, scoring Rios to make it 4-3. Puerto Rico would bring a couple more hitters to the plate, but would fail to add any insurance. All of a sudden, it was Italy who was down to their final outs but who also had their top of the order due up in the ninth. Hiram Burgos would be the man chosen to enter the game to face the top if Italy's order to try and close it out for Puerto Rico. Burgos would do his job by stiking out Punto and Denorifa. J.C. Romero would be brought in to face Anthony Rizzo, but would give up a walk to put the tying run on base and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Fernando Cabrera would come on to record the final out, gettin Alex Liddi to strike out to end the game. Chris Denorfia would lead Italy with three hits and Anthony Rizzo was responsible for all their runs with his three run double in the fifth. Yadier Molina went 3-4 with a Run and four different Puerto Ricans recorded an RBI to lead their country to the comeback win. Puerto Rico moves to 1-1 and stays in the tournament moving into Friday's elimination game to await the USA/Dominican Republic loser, while Italy suffers its second tough loss in as many days to finish 0-2 and be eliminated.*Special note, The Netherlands has made a roster adjustment: Yurendell De Caster has been dropped becasue of a strain of his left plantar fascia amd Jurickson Profar has been added to fill his roster place.
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