Japan 8, Netherlands 6 (F/11)
Japan
Sho Nakata: 3-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI, 1 K
Hayato Sakamoto: 3-4, 2 R, 1 BB
Nori Aoki: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Kazuhisa Makita (W): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Netherlands
Xander Bogaerts: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Jonathan Schoop: 3-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI
Wladimir Balentien: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Tom Stuifbergen (L): 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
For someone who is unabashedly rooting for the Netherlands to come out of this side of the bracket, this was a heartbreaking game. It was neck-and-neck from the jump, with Japan finally taking a lead that lasted more than a half-inning in the fifth but Netherlands coming back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth. That rally was started by a Bogaerts walk, and Boston’s shortstop came around to score the tying run on a Schoop single. Then, this game reached the eleventh and things got dumb. In the WBC, teams start with two runners on in every inning after the tenth, and Japan took better advantage of this dumb rule than Netherlands. At least we finally learned whether or not these count as earned runs or not. (They don’t)
Dominican Republic 10, Colombia 3 (F/11)
Dominican Republic
Jean Segura: 3-6, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB
Carlos Santana: 3-6, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Jose Bautista: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI
Welington Castillo: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Enny Romero (W): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Colombia
William Cuevas (L): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Dayan Diaz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Jorge Alfaro: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI
Mauricio Ramos: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 K
Reynaldo Rodriguez: 1-5, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 K
Welp, we’re two games in (in case it’s not obvious by the way these are written, I usually write up each game after they finish) and we’ve seen these trash extra inning rules in both contests. I understand why they use them here — you don’t want to blow through a pitching staff in this kind of tournament — but it totally sucks the fun out of the game. This was a thrilling game, with Alfaro tying it in the eighth and going to extra innings. The Dominican may have still won regardless of the rules, but giving that lineup two free base runners is unfair. Ugh. Poor William Cuevas.
Puerto Rico 9, Italy 3
Puerto Rico
Mike Aviles: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 R, 1 K
Carlos Correa: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Francisco Lindor: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Javier Baez: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
Enrique Hernandez: 3-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K
Jose Berrios (W): 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Italy
John Andreoli: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 K
Drew Butera: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI
Luis Lugo (L): 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB
After two thrilling extra-inning games to start Sunday’s WBC action, Puerto Rico slowed things down with a strong win over Italy. This was an unsurprising result, and it clinched Puerto Rico’s spot into the second round along with the Dominican Republic. As of this writing, it is unclear who will join them, though we will likely know by the time you read this in the morning, barring any need for tiebreakers.
U.S.A. 8, Canada 0
U.S.A
Buster Posey: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI
Nolan Arenado: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Eric Hosmer: 2-5, 2 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
Danny Duffy (W): 4IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K
Canada
Ryan Dempster (L): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 0 K
Rene Tosoni: 1-4, 1 2B
In the most boring game of the day, the U.S. took care of business against a vastly overmatched Canadian team and advanced to the second round with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Danny Duffy was amazing, and Nolan Arenado finally got off the schneid.
Mexico 11, Venezuela 9
Mexico
Adrian Gonzalez: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Japhet Amador: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Brandon Laird: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Esteban Quiroz: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Luis Mendoza (W): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Venezuela
Victor Martinez: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Alcides Escobar: 4-5, 1 2B, 2 R
Martin Prado: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Ender Inciarte: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Yusmeiro Petit (L): 2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K
This was a fairly exciting game, as Venezuela was one the brink of being eliminated after being one of the favorites in the entire tournament, never mind their pool. Mexico jumped out to an early lead, and while it looked like Venezuela would be able to mount a comeback, they continuously came up short. The real action came after the game, though, when confusion about tiebreakers dominated the conversation. Mexico thought they had clinched a spot in a tiebreaker with Italy for the final second round spot, but it turns out they had allowed 0.01 more runs per inning than Venezuela and thus were eliminated. Essentially, if they had recorded just one out when they allowed that massive comeback to Italy, they would be advancing. For their part, Mexico is arguing that, despite not recording an out in the ninth inning of that game, it should count as a partial inning. Nothing is official yet and Mexican team officials are still trying to sort things out at the time of this writing. (5AM ET). Adrian Gonzalez is pissed, and everything's a mess.