World Baseball Classic thread

MSUJet85 · Mar 8, 2006

Williams' single helps Puerto Rico nip Panama
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's first game in the World Baseball Classic was a tougher test than many expected.

Bernie Williams hit a tiebreaking single, Alex Rios homered and Team Puerto Rico made its WBC debut with a 2-1 victory over Panama on Tuesday night.

"We swung at too many first pitches. We'll be talking about that to the team because we need to address that," Puerto Rican manager Jose Oquendo said.

Javier Vazquez got help from his bullpen, and Williams' single up the middle scored Alex Cintron in the fifth inning to put Puerto Rico ahead before a home crowd of more than 19,000 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

With a roster that also features major league stars Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Ivan Rodriguez, Puerto Rico is a heavy favorite to finish among the top two teams in its group and advance to the second round. Cuba and the Netherlands are also in Pool C.

Team Panama manager Anibal Reluz Vasquez still thinks his team can make it to the next round.

"We will stay motivated to win this championship and we'll keep fighting," he said. "Today we had more chances to win than Puerto Rico, but it just didn't work out."

Bruce Chen, Panama's best pitcher, will go to the mound Wednesday against Cuba.

"Tomorrow we will bring Bruce Chen, who may be our best card in the stack," Reluz Vasquez said. "We have done some strong scouting on Cuba. We've played them a lot in the past and they're going to have to bring their best tomorrow to beat us."

Rios was down 0-2 in the count in the fifth before his home run tied the score at 1.

"I was very proud," he said. "I saw the left fielder getting close to the wall, but I felt very proud when the ball went into the stands."

That chased Panama starter Lenin Picota after 60 pitches.

"He threw strikes and my boys were anxious," Oquendo said.

Cintron followed with an infield hit. A sacrifice bunt by Alex Cora sent Cintron to second, and Williams gave Team Puerto Rico the lead with a signature line drive that split the diamond and bounced into center field.

Vazquez left in the fourth with two on and none out. He threw 57 pitches.

"Vazquez was working too fast and he was pitching a little too high in the strike zone," Oquendo said.

Federico Baez loaded the bases with a walk to Ruben Rivera, and Carlos Ruiz walked to force in the first run of the game. But Baez escaped by getting a fly ball and a double-play grounder.

Panama also threatened in the first, putting runners on first and second with none out. Olmedo Saenz hit into a fielder's choice, forcing Orlando Miller at third for the first out.

Freddy Herrera then took off from second on a fly ball hit by Carlos Lee that was caught by Puerto Rican left fielder Jose Cruz Jr., who threw to second for an inning-ending double play.

Panama returned the favor in the bottom half. Puerto Rico manager Jose Oquendo gave the hit-and-run sign to Rodriguez with one out, but Beltran struck out and the runner was thrown out at second.

Lee missed a two-out RBI opportunity for Panama in the fifth when he grounded out, leaving a runner on third.

The winning pitcher was Jose Santiago, who went 1 2/3 innings. Manuel Acosta took the loss.

Puerto Rico plays the Netherlands on Wednesday, and Panama plays Cuba.
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Puerto Rico 2, Panama 1

MSUJet85 · Mar 8, 2006

Piazza, Grilli spark 10-0 Italy rout of Australia
Associated Press

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Mike Piazza doubled and scored a run and Jason Grilli was almost perfect in 4 2/3 innings of work, leading Italy to a 10-0 victory over Australia in the first round of the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night.

Grilli left to a standing ovation after allowing only a one-out, fourth-inning double to Trent Durrington. He also struck out seven. Riccardo De Santis finished with 2 1/3 perfect innings.

Piazza, the All-Star catcher who left the New York Mets and signed with the San Diego Padres in the offseason, was 1-for-4.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Frank Catalanotto was 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI for Italy. Mark Saccomanno was 2-for-3 with a double, home run and two RBI.

Frank Menechino, now with the Cincinnati Reds after several years with the Oakland Athletics and Toronto, keyed a three-run second inning for Italy with a two-run double. That helped to chase Australia starter John Stephens, who allowed three earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Italy managed 12 hits off five different Australia pitchers before the 10-run mercy rule ended the game after seven innings.

The atmosphere at The Ballpark at Disney for Italy and Australia was decidedly calmer than it was for the Venezuela-Dominican Republic game that preceded it.

The Dominican Republic defeated Venezuela 11-5 in front of a raucous packed house.

In the nightcap of Pool D play, the stadium was half-filled and there were no Aussie or Italian flags being waved.
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Italy 10, Australia 0

MSUJet85 · Mar 8, 2006

Canada scores four in top of ninth to avoid upset
Associated Press

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Canada narrowly avoided a startling loss in its World Baseball Classic debut, rallying for four runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat South Africa 11-8 Tuesday night.

Ryan Radminovich led off the ninth with a triple to left center off losing pitcher Jared Elario and scored on a sharp double by Adam Stern. Stern came around to score when South Africa third baseman John Phillips threw Pete Orr's sacrifice attempt into right field.

The Canadians added two more runs on a wild pitch and a double by Sebastien Boucher. South African pitchers threw eight wild pitches.

Jesse Crain came on in the ninth inning for the save, striking out two.

Corey Koskie of the Milwaukee Brewers hit a two-run home run for Canada, and Jason Bay was 2-for-5 with three runs scored and Justin Morneau had an RBI double.

South Africa had taken an 8-7 lead against Canada reliever Chris Reitsma in the bottom of the eighth of the Pool B game when Paul Bell cleared the bases with a double to left field.

A three-run double by Brett Willemburg in the fourth inning helped give South Africa a 4-3 lead.

The surprising South Africans played the Canadians even for the first four innings with Carl Michaels and Barry Armitage matching Erik Bedard of the Baltimore Orioles pitch for pitch.

Bedard held the South Africans to two hits, striking out six.

The Canadians finally broke through in the fifth, using three stolen bases and Matt Stairs' two-run double to score three runs against Armitage.

But Paul Quantrill, on in relief of Bedard, couldn't hold the lead. South Africa tied the game on Willemburg's double down the left-field line and took the lead when Willemburg scored when Orr failed to handle Nick Dempsey's ground ball.
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South Africa 8, Canada 11

MSUJet85 · Mar 8, 2006

Papi, Beltre power Dominican past Venezuela
Associated Press

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- David Ortiz and the Dominican Republic showed everyone in the United States what Latin baseball is all about -- and just how good they are.

AP Photo
David Ortiz (right) homered twice, including a two-run shot in the ninth.

Ortiz and Adrian Beltre each homered twice, leading a powerful Dominican team to an 11-5 victory over Venezuela on Tuesday in their World Baseball Classic opener.

"The atmosphere is pretty much what every Latin has in his blood," Ortiz said.

"Everybody has a lot of passion for baseball," the Boston Red Sox star added. "We live it every day."

A lively sellout crowd, two All-Star lineups, a couple Cy Young Award winners.

Bud Selig must have been smiling.

This is exactly what the commissioner had in mind when he pushed for the Classic, and the Dominican Republic and Venezuela put on a show that made the concept look like a stroke of genius.

Bartolo Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young winner for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, pitched three scoreless innings for the win. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two before leaving after 50 pitches -- well below the opening-round limit of 65.

Johan Santana, the 2004 AL Cy Young recipient, yielded Ortiz's first homer, a second run that was unearned and took the loss. He threw 61 pitches in 3 1/3 innings and allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five.

"We were all aware of their pitching staff, and we had to be patient and wait for the right pitch to hit," said Ortiz, who had three RBI.

Ortiz and Beltre, who drove in five runs, each hit a two-run homer in the ninth as the Dominicans broke open a 6-5 game.

Gut check
Venezuelan manager Luis Sojo defended his strategy against the Dominican Republic.

"From the beginning, I've said that Venezuela has a manager that goes by his instincts," said Sojo.

Despite being down just one run and with Francisco Rodriguez available in the bullpen, Sojo decided to leave Victor Zambrano in the game in the ninth inning.

"I checked with the coaches and they said Zambrano was doing great, so I decided to leave him in," Sojo said. After Zambrano gave up a single and wild pitch, Sojo brought in left-hander Carlos Hernandez to face Ortiz, who had hit a monstrous home run off lefty Johan Santana earlier in the game.

With first base open, Sojo could have walked "Big Papi" and brought in a right-hander to pitch to Moises Alou.

"I didn't want to risk putting anyone else on," Sojo explained. "Carlos made a couple of good pitches to David, but the last one was up. Ortiz is a great hitter, and the great ones do that to you," said Sojo.

The Venezuelan manager plans to use the same lineup in their next game against Italy, and confirmed that Freddy Garcia and Carlos Silva will be his first two pitchers in that contest.

"The game against the D.R. opened our eyes. If anyone thought it would be easy, let them buy the book," he said. "Tuesday's game is history, now we'll focus on the next ones to get some victories and get to the next round."

-- Enrique Rojas

Ronnie Belliard added an RBI single to finish a five-run inning that set off a wild celebration among flag-toting, horn-blowing Dominican fans, some of whom even danced on top of the dugout after Beltre's second homer.

Miguel Cabrera and Edgardo Alfonzo homered for Venezuela, which rallied from a five-run deficit to nearly tie the game.

That's where some controversy came into play, with Venezuela manager Luis Sojo barreling out of the dugout to argue that Cabrera's RBI double should have been ruled a two-run homer that would have tied the game at 6 in the seventh.

Two innings earlier, Cabrera's two-run homer cut into a 6-1 lead the Dominican Republic built with the help of Ortiz's solo homer off Santana and Beltre's three-run drive off Carlos Zambrano.

"The umpires are closer than we are," Alfonzo said. "We tried to see the replay, but it was tough to tell."

Cabrera's seventh-inning double off Julian Tavarez hit the top of the wall in left-center and caromed back to the field. Cabrera pumped his fist and held his right arm in the air as he rounded first, thinking he had his second homer.

The matchup of star-laden lineups drew a sellout crowd of 10,645 to The Ballpark at Disney, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves.

The Dominican batting order read like a who's who among All-Stars with Alfonso Soriano leading off, followed by MVPs Miguel Tejada and Albert Pujols and sluggers Ortiz, Moises Alou and Beltre.

And with Ortiz and Beltre leading the way, the Dominicans hardly seemed to miss a couple big names who aren't here for the first round -- Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez.

Guerrero, whose jersey hung on the side of the batting cage while his teammates were taking swings before the game, pulled out after three cousins died in a car accident. Ramirez reported late for spring training and isn't ready to play.

Beltre's three-run homer off Zambrano made it 6-1 in the fifth. But this was billed as the premier matchup in Pool D -- maybe even the entire first round -- for a reason.

Venezuela features an impressive collection of talent, as well, led by Cabrera, Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez, Omar Vizquel and Carlos Guillen.

Alfonzo rebounded from a throwing error that allowed the Dominican Republic to score its second run and began Venezuela's comeback with an RBI single in the fourth and a solo homer in the sixth.

Sojo expects Venezuela to bounce back Wednesday against Italy.

"It puts more pressure on us," Sojo said. "We just have to put it behind us."

Game notes
Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, a native of the Dominican Republic, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Daniel Cabrera and Odalis Perez, two pitchers on the 30-man roster for the Dominican Republic, were declared ineligible for Tuesday's game. The team permitted Cabrera and Perez to throw in exhibition games for their major-league clubs last weekend, and WBCI determined they had thrown the equivalent of 30 to 49 pitches one day before their tournament opener. Both will be eligible to pitch Thursday against Italy. ... Zambrano's first pitch to Pujols in the fifth inning was clocked at 99 mph.
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Venezuela 5, Dominican Republic 11

MSUJet85 · Mar 8, 2006

Peavy combines to four-hit Mexico in U.S. win
Associated Press

PHOENIX -- One after another, the American pitchers were untouchable. A pair of big blows provided all the help they needed.

Jake Peavy
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Peavy allowed one hit and struck out three, throwing just 23 pitches.

Jake Peavy and a parade of relievers combined on a four-hitter against a lineup loaded with major-leaguers Tuesday, leading the United States to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in its World Baseball Classic debut.

Home runs by Derrek Lee and Chipper Jones were all that was necessary on offense.

"Today I felt proud," Lee said. "I felt like the whole country was watching."

Lee hit a 1-1 pitch from starter Rodrigo Lopez over the right-field fence and Jones homered on the first pitch he saw in the tournament -- off Oscar Villarreal in the seventh.

These U.S. stars have been talking pride and patriotism since gathering on Friday.

"I've never had a better feeling in my life," Peavy said. "It was the coolest thing I have ever done when Team USA took the field today."

Added Jones: "I probably had more butterflies today than any playoff games."

Peavy allowed one hit -- an infield single by Karim Garcia that easily could have been ruled an error on second baseman Chase Utley to start the game. The 24-year-old San Diego Padres right-hander struck out three, throwing just 23 pitches. Mike Timlin, Chad Cordero, Dan Wheeler, Todd Jones, Joe Nathan and Brad Lidge each threw an inning of relief for the U.S. squad, which has 11 relievers on its roster.

"Our bullpen is ridiculous," Lee said. "I kind of felt sorry for those guys having to face them."

The U.S. pitchers combined for nine strikeouts and no walks, shutting out Mexico in only 2 hours, 6 minutes.

No Mexican hitters got beyond first. Three baserunners were erased on double plays.

"It was a good game," Mexico manager Paquin Estrada said through a translator, "but there really was no room for mistakes. There were two hits, and it was just a matter of pitching."

From the first pitch, it was apparent this was no spring training game.

The crowd of 32,727 at Chase Field -- formerly known as Bank One Ballpark -- was loud and lively with Mexican supporters waiving their red, white and green national flags and chanting "Me-xi-co! Me-xi-co!" When a U.S. batter got two strikes, there were shouts of "ponche" -- strikeout.

"I thought it was awesome," Jones said. "I thought it was electric. The Mexican fans brought a lot of electricity to the game."

The United States had the first scoring threat when Randy Winn led off the third with a single to right. After two outs, Derek Jeter bounced a single up the middle to put runners at first and third. But Ken Griffey Jr. popped up to left to end the inning.

Lopez, a right-handed starter for the Baltimore Orioles, allowed one run and three hits in four innings, striking out one and walking one. The lone run he gave up was Lee's two-out homer in the fourth.

"I was trying to throw a good fastball down and away," Lopez said. "I just left it up a little bit. Like I say, this guy's got tremendous power. This guy is an All-Star."

The lead remained 1-0 until Jones replaced Alex Rodriguez at third in the top of the seventh. With one out, he hit the first pitch from his new Atlanta teammate Villarreal some 396 feet to the seats in left-center.

"Just another huge thrill, another career highlight," said Jones, who homered in the U.S. exhibition victory against San Francisco on Saturday.

Pitchers can throw no more than 65 pitches per game in the first round because they are still in the spring training mode.

Mexico has defeated the United States only once in five tries since baseball became an Olympic sport. That 2-1 victory in the 2003 Olympic qualifier in Panama denied the Americans a 2004 Olympic berth.
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United States 2, Mexico 0

28rogerblaze51 · Mar 8, 2006

Usa is going to win this trust..

Did anyone see the whole roger clemens commercial, that gave me goosebumps and made me scream usa.

He said, we want to win it all, this is our sport and we are going to show them how its played. Im a american.

ScotsJet · Mar 8, 2006

D-Lee and Michael Barrett rule. Shame Carlos Zambrano and the rest of the Venezuela pitching staff totally choked.

tcrock · Mar 8, 2006

this is kind of a joke....Piazza playing for Italy? why because he's of Italian descent? you should actually be a citizen of the country you play for, at least in my opinion...this is nothing but a weak PR attempt by MLB

wa2k99 · Mar 8, 2006

tcrock said:

this is kind of a joke....Piazza playing for Italy? why because he's of Italian descent? you should actually be a citizen of the country you play for, at least in my opinion...this is nothing but a weak PR attempt by MLB
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I see what you're saying, but there has to be some level of competition here. Otherwise the first round would be meaningless.

And man does Jorge Julio blow! But Duaner Sanchez will be a stud for the Mets! Bank on it.

Italian Seafood · Mar 8, 2006

Now that the better teams are playing and once they play each other a few times, it will pick up some steam. I'm looking forward to some of the games, something I've never said about the Dodgers split squad playing in Vero Beach, etc.

Out for the Season · Mar 8, 2006

damn, Panama is playing with heart, a tough team to beat

Jtuds · Mar 8, 2006

Gooooo Caaanaaaadaaa!!!!

Out for the Season · Mar 8, 2006

Jtuds said:

Gooooo Caaanaaaadaaa!!!!
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happy? nice come from behind victory

Italian Seafood · Mar 8, 2006

Jtuds said:

Gooooo Caaanaaaadaaa!!!!
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It's a shame for Canada that Eric Gagne wasn't ready to go for them. He should be ready for the season but couldn't chance playing in this.

Out for the Season · Mar 8, 2006

Cuba 2
Panama 1 Bottom of the 6th

Jtuds · Mar 8, 2006

Out for the Season said:

happy? nice come from behind victory
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Ya if we had lost to friggin South Africa I'd have been as embarassed as when we lost to the Swiss in Torino.

Out for the Season · Mar 8, 2006

Jtuds said:

Ya if we had lost to friggin South Africa I'd have been as embarassed as when we lost to the Swiss in Torino.
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I see, but South Africa played with a lot of heart. Anyway, Canada deserved to win, they have a better team.

Out for the Season · Mar 8, 2006

Cuba 2
Panama 4
End of 6th

MattMan · Mar 8, 2006

this is a must win for panama

Italian Seafood · Mar 8, 2006

Too bad they can't bring Rivera in to preserve the lead. Maybe now two countries can hate George Steinbrenner.

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