Looking back at a few highlights in an eventful Baseball year 2009

2009 started Baseball-wise with the second edition of the World Baseball Classic, the high-profile invitational tournament organized by Major League Baseball. Japan and MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka defended their titles from 2006 with a 5-3 victory over Olympic champion Korea in the championship game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (highlights see clip above). The Asian power houses had beaten Venezuela and Team USA in the semi-finals. Before that Japan had eliminated Cuba in round two by shutting out the heavy favorite twice.

While the usual suspects came through in the end, Europe played an impressive and surprising role in round one. Italy with their future big league hopefuls Alessandro Maestri and Alex Liddi upset Canada at the Rogers Centre in Toronto 6-2, eliminating the Pool C host. The team of Marco Mazzieri didn’t make it in round two due to the second loss against Venezuela, but still left their mark on the Classic and returned home proud.

The Italian performance but even got topped by the second European team in the tournament. Led by Sidney Ponson’s and Leon Boyd’s heroics on the mound and timely hits by Eugene Kingsale and Co., the Netherlands stunned the highly favored Dominican team 3-2 in the Pool D opener and repeated this feat with a 2-1 win in the elimination game a few days later. They reached the second round besides Puerto Rico, where they lost against Venezuela and Team USA en route back to Europe. But if you’ll recall the 2009 WBC, you definitely have to mention the two Dutch victories over the Dominican Republic.

Official Website 2009 World Baseball Classic
All Results of 2009 WBC

Dutch Victories over Dominican Republic:

Ponson is the second player, who tested positive during the 2009 WBC. On Thursday the Chicago Cubs released a statement from Puerto Rican catcher Geovany Soto that he was tested positive for marijuana. He also will be suspended for two years of International Baseball, but can continue play in the MLB. However both probably now will face extensive testing from Major League Baseball.

Ponson impressed during the Classic with great outings for the Dutch National Team, allowing seven hits, four runs and four walks in nine innings over two starts. He struck out four, won and lost a game. After his performance he received a minor league contract from the Royals and made the opening day roster out of spring training. After going 1-5 with an ERA of 7.27 he got injured and is currently on the disabled list with a strained elbow.

By Robert Eenhoorn

Across the world baseball fans have that itchy feeling in April when baseball seasons are about to take off, but this year is exceptional for coaches and players. Because at this very moment both World Baseball Classic and two European Cup tournaments are already past tense for many of them. Whilst the Classic made clear to everybody that the definite connection between Europe and the world top is only a matter of time, European Cup tournaments regrettably  demonstrated the harsh contrast between the levels of players and those of organizing talents from outside the fields.

First things first: Italy headed by Marco Mazzieri beat Canada in a wonderful way, eliminating the home country of the Toronto tournament. The Azzurri deserved an extra game, decisive for elimination. For some time a Round Two spot was in sight for the Italian players, but they were defeated again by Venezuela. The Netherlands did even make it to  Round Two, thanks to their fantastic defense coupled with joy for the game, team spirit and fighting spirit. For many days the two spectacular victories over the all star squad of the Dominican Republic were the talk of the town in the entire baseball world. Also in the Netherlands we regained the media attention, which we had to miss since the World Cup 2005 in our country.

Essential for European baseball however, was that everybody’s eyes were opened for the progress made by our continent. Now international baseball is considering European baseball much more seriously than before. Many personalities, varying from Harvey Schiller to Paul Archey and from Sandy Alderson to Derek Jeter approached us to congratulate Team Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had managed to accomplish this historical break through.

But how seriously does European baseball consider itself, I wondered back in Europe and concluding all the reports about the European Cup tournaments for clubs. For the first time in history this event was organized before the start of the regular seasons in most of the CEB member states. Therefore, most of the players were prepared in only a few pre-season friendlies, which is a poor approach for what is intended to be a top event for European baseball. The timing of the tournaments in southern Europe does not respect the average weather conditions for baseball players warming up in eastern, central, western and northern Europe.

Additionally, the field in Matino turned out to be everything but ready for hosting baseball games. Once the games were about to be played after a long delay for groundsmen work, the local fans appeared to be close to non-existent, the participation in the tournament in the distant village became extremely expensive for the clubs and after all we shall end up with a Final Four tournament in June with two Dutch and two Italian clubs in . . . . . Spain. For sure no attendance records will be broken in Barcelona and again European baseball will miss another occasion to profit from potentially big opportunities.

What Europe needs is a platform for the best players of the continent, included the professionals, to compete together for who will be the best team of them all. Of course the clubs involved should play home games each at its turn, attracting the maximum audience of the local club fans and regional baseball fans. The games should be planned properly for the interest of baseball fans and baseball players in qualified stadiums with fields timely approved by reliable inspectors. By doing so, European baseball will get the media attention needed for further developments. Everything seems to be so evident and so simple, but for some people it looks quite complicated.

As you already may be aware, I am a big fan of Rotterdam soccer club Feyenoord. In the spring of 2002, I was in the famous San Siro stadium in Milano, Italy, to attend a European top soccer game between the stars of home team Internazionale and Feyenoord, for bookmakers by far the outsider for the finale spot waiting after the return game. When the 22 players entered the field, I was surprised to see that Inter missed all its stars. I learned that the coach had decided to spare them for a regular game in Italian Serie A competition in program for next Sunday. Despite of Feyenoord’s much lower budget and pretentions, its players fought for their ambitions till the end, won the game by 0-1 and saved the win two weeks later in Rotterdam to acquire the UEFA Cup final spot.

My feelings of enthusiasm during recent World Baseball Classic were pretty much the same as what I remembered from that soccer game in Italy. Re-analyzing presently what I had seen in San Siro exactly 7 years ago, it suddenly revealed to me crystal-clearly where we are with European baseball in 2009.

Happy Easter and let’s play ball!

Translation from Dutch to English by Pim van Nes

The WBC showed some good players to take notice to. I saw many games on TV during the last World Baseball Classic (on ESPN America). Some players captured my attention (and some scouts’ interest too): That’s the List.

RHP Suk Min Yoon (Korea), 22 Yrs: he showed a very good control of 4 pitches (a 90-94 mph fastball, a 83-86 mph slider, a 77-79 mph changeup and a 70-72 mph curve)

RHP Hyun Wook Jong (Korea), 29 Yrs: he showed 3 average or above average pitches (a 90-94 mph fastball, a mid 80 mph slider and mid 70 mph curve)

1B Tae Kyun Kim (Korea), 25 Yrs: a right handed hitter, led the WBC with 11 RBIs showing interesting power (made the All-Tournament team)

SS Ki Hyuk Park (Korea), 27 Yrs: in my opinion, the best defensive SS of the tournament, with above average range, defensive skills and arm. A major leaguer right now for his defense, but he doesn’t hit.

OF Jong Wook Lee (Korea), 28 Yrs: a left-handed hitter with above average hitting skills.

RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (Japan), 28 Yrs: he can command 4 above average pitches (an 88-92 mph sinker with movement, an 84-86 mph splitter, a 78-81 mph slider and a 70-72 mph curve). In my opinion (and of teammate Dice-K too), the real MVP of the WBC (made the All-Tournament team).

LHP Toshya Sugiuchi (Japan), 28 Yrs: a reliever in the WBC, but a starter in the NPB, the lefty has an outstanding command of a low 90s fastball and of a 77-79 curveball.

1B-3B Shuichi Murata (Japan), 28 Yrs: a right handed slugger with solid average power and good discipline at the plate.

SS Hiroyuki Nakajima (Japan), 26 Yrs: a five-tool talent, bats for average and power, outstanding defender, plus speed. One of the best players of the tournament.

OF Norichika Aoki (Japan), 27 Yrs: left handed hitter with above average hitting skills and defense (made the All-Tournament team).

RHP Vladimir Garcia (Cuba), 26 Yrs: OK, Aroldis Chapman is the ace of team Cuba, but take a look at this closer with great stuff (96-97 mph heat, low 80s curve). He seemed a little bit wild during the WBC, but the arm is there.

Cuba showed two interesting OFs in Frederich Cepeda, 29 Yrs, a switch-hitter with above average hitting and power, and Yoennis Cespedes, 23 Yrs, a right handed hitter with an amazing combination of hitting (average), speed (above average), and defense (above average range and arm). Both made the All-Tournament Team.

Two 19 years old RHPs from Netherlands weren’t afraid of attacking Major League caliber line-ups with their low 90s fastball: Juan Carlos Sulbaran (a Reds prospect) and Dennis Neuman (Red Sox).

He can’t be considered a prospect anymore due to his age (34), but Dutch RHP Robbie Cordemans showed a plus plus command of his off-speed stuff.

I was hurt by the remark of Pim Van Nes on this web site on the composition of Team Italy’s roster in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Because what the Italian team did in the 2009 World Baseball Classic deserves respect, because the Italian Federation participated in the World Baseball Classic following the rules. And also because Pim Van Nes is Dutch and I found it pretty weird that someone who takes The Netherlands as an example (on the baseball field, they indeed were, but this is not the subject of what I am writing) could criticize Italy for having most of the players on the roster born outside Italy.

If I don’t count wrong, The Netherlands had 12 players on the roster born outside the country: Markwell, Neuman, Jansen, Schoop, Adriana, De Caster, Simon, Engelhardt and Curt Smith born in the Netherland Antilles; Ponson and Kingsale born in Aruba and Boyd born in Canada.

The Netherland Antilles and Aruba are countries part of the so called Kingdom of the Netherlands (that is, according to Wikipedia: “an association with Federal characteristics which consists of 3 countries: the Netherlands in western Europe, the Netherland Antilles and Aruba” and exists since 1954) and have their own Olympic Committee and their own Baseball Federation (both participated in the IBAF World Cup Qualifier and actually the Antilles made it to the tournament).

To be more accurate, we should also mention the fact that the Netherland Antilles should soon dissolve. Curaçao, for instance, has voted a referendum exactly 4 years ago about the possibility of having stronger ties with the Netherlands or a Status Aparte in the Kingdom. Only 23% of the population voted for ‘stronger ties’ and Curaçao is supposed to become and independent country inside The Kingdom in the same way Aruba is since 1986.

Nowadays, the only islands of the Antilles that are Dutch municipalities are Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. And not everybody in Holland is happy about that. Geert Wilders of the Dutch Party for Freedom was quoted saying that Holland should send them as a present to Hugo Chavez, who indeed has claimed them for Venezuela since 2006: “Tie a nice bow around the islands and good bye!”

It is clear that players born in Curaçao or Aruba (these countries are not part of the European Union) are foreigners to Holland, unless they have the right to a Dutch passport through their family history. Exactly like the Italian Americans who represent Italy.

I do not doubt that the players who represent The Netherlands in international baseball are perfectly entitled to do so. I know they are. Exactly as the players who represent Italy are perfectly entitled to do so.

In both countries actually citizenship is not given because of the place of birth but through the citizenship of one of the parents.

It may be interesting to notice that The Netherland Antilles would have been a really competitive team, with players such as Adriana, De Caster or Simon on the roster. But since these players represented The Netherlands, they won’t be able to have them in the 2009 World Cup.

by Riccardo Schiroli

I won’t forget the night of Monday March 23rd. It was the night I met actor Dominic Chianese, who starred in “The Sopranos”, one of my favorites amongst TV shows. And it was the night I saw some of the best baseball of my life.

The match between Korea and Japan, the Championship Game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, has been great: outstanding plays, outstanding fans, a lot of emotions and a drama ending. Can you ask for more, when you attend a baseball game?

Furthermore: it was played in the “Dodger Stadium”, that is one of the real monuments of sport: More than “Yankee Stadium” to me and I find it hard to say if I like more the “Dodger Stadium” or the “Giuseppe Meazza”, the soccer stadium in San Siro, Milan, where both AC Milan and FC Inter play their home games. But there aren’t many other stadia I would mention, talking about “monuments”.

I was writing notes during the game. Because I had a report on the game to file for www.fibs.it, of course, but also because I wanted to be sure I could remember the little details. The fans, the rooting, the way Korean fans go on for hours with their “Te-han-Min-go” (or something like that, it’s the way they call Korea in their own language…a language I have no chance of learning, after all. But it sounded good), the colors.

The main plot, I will remember without looking at my notes. Because that was a great night. Period. Greatly organized, taking care of all the details.

With the World Baseball Classic, Major League Baseball has showed everybody the road to excellence. And I believe the lesson should be learned.

Sometimes there’s not so much poetry, in making the right choices. I understand that many amongst baseball officers find appealing the idea of distributing a kit to get the game started in some underdeveloped area. But here we are talking about the real deal. And the real deal has not much to do with dreams. Or self promotion.

What MLB has created is a top event, played by top players that the fans liked (over 800.000 tickets sold). And this top event generated revenue. The World Baseball Classic is not about game development, but the money that the Classic will distribute to Federations (above all the winning Japanese Federation, US $ 2.7 million, but also the International Federation, that will collect US $ 1 million, can be satisfied) will do a lot for the development of the game. If there is the will, expecially in underdeveloped areas.

You see what having a goal, and actually reaching it, can make? You have a successful tournament and produce resources that can help you implement other actions.

The World Baseball Classic has taught a lesson: if you want people to show up, take the games where you have people willing to attend them. If you cannot get the best TV deals (for instance: because in the US the so called College basketball March Madness is on), be at least sure that you have your own channel (the web, for instance) that shows the games to fans that are willing to watch them, but cannot make it to the ballpark.

Those as shortsighted as to preview a failure because the tournament is played in March won’t probably change their minds and will keep posting statistics stating that pitchers who perform in the WBC will probably have injury bothered seasons. But luckily enough, players (and their Union) are well over it. And they are willing to participate. And they will keep participating.

March is not a perfect period, but there’s not a better one. MLB owners won’t shut their season during the Summer and at the end of the MLB play offs (November) you will have more players decline, because of injuries or simply because they have had enough baseball for the year.

March has also another advantage: every 4th year it creates a sort of Super Spring Training atmosphere, making fans anticipate the beginning of the ‘regular season’ more than they normally do.

There’s only one thing I did not like of the World Baseball Classic: the ‘double elimination’ format.

I have nothing against the ‘double elimination’ if it’s about a round robin of 8 teams, but to me it makes absolutely no sense when you are talking about 4 teams. Also because you are going to have 4 teams (Panama, South Africa, Taiwan and Canada in our case) participate in the tournament to play only 2 games. And one of these teams (Canada) was also the home team to one of the venues.

In particular, during the World Baseball Classic I disliked the idea of the 6 games that were meant to give the seeding of the round robins during phase 1 and 2 of the tournament. What interest for the average fan has a game between 2 teams that have already qualified?

Also: you have teams eliminated without facing other competitors. Cuba, for instance, was eliminated without ever facing Korea.

On a final note, the European teams gave a good contribution to the idea of ‘global baseball’.

Holland of course was the standout. Nobody would have previewed that the Dutch could eliminate the Dominican Republic, let alone beat them 2 times in a matter of days.

Italy, that was probably in the toughest bracket of the tournament, succeeded in beating the home team Canada and their Big League stars Morneau, Bay and Martin.

The press in the US dropped, here and there, notes that the European teams had rosters filled with players born outside the land soil. Weird enough, they never mentioned that the Hairston and Gonzalez brothers were not actually born in Mexico or that ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz gave up his Dominican citizenship to become a citizen of the United States of America.

But we will cope with that.

Photo: © Ratti, FIBS

• The Final between Japan and Korea on March 23 drew 54,846 fans, the largest crowd in World Baseball Classic history.
• A total of 141,854 fans attended the three games in Los Angeles over Championship weekend…43,630 fans attended the Japan vs. United States Semi-Final on March 22, the second largest-crowd in World Baseball Classic history.
• ESPN’s telecasts of this year’s semifinals (Korea vs. Venezuela Saturday, March 21, and USA vs. Japan Sunday, March 22) and final (Korea vs. Japan, Monday, March 23) averaged 1,820,000 viewers (up 24 percent) and a 1.4 rating (up eight percent).
• In Japan, the Final earned a 36.4 rating despite starting at 10:30 AM on Tuesday morning.
• Sunday night’s telecast of Japan vs. USA on ESPN was the most-watched World Baseball Classic telecast in U.S. history by posting a 2.2 rating.
• The 2.2 rating of Japan vs. USA more than doubled the 1.0 rating both semifinals produced in 2006.
• Japan vs. USA was the most watched sports event on North American cable television last week.
• More than 15,000 fans watched the Final from Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.

All-Tournament Team WBC:
Pitchers:
Daisuke Matsuzaka (JPN), 3-0, ERA 2.45, WHIP 1.30, 14.2 IP, 13 SO, 5 BB
Hisashi Iwakuma (JPN), 1-1, ERA 1.35, WHIP 0.90, 20 IP, 15 SO, 6 BB
Jung Keun Bong (KOR),  2-0, ERA 0.51, WHIP 1.13, 17.2 IP, 4 SO, 6 BB
Designated Hitter:
Hyun Soo Kim (KOR), .393/.514/.500, 11 H, 3 2B, 6 R, 4 RBI
First Baseman:
Tae Kyun Kim (KOR), .345/.486/.690, 10 H, 3 HR, 2B, 9 R, 11 RBI
Second Baseman:
Jose Lopez (VEN), .417/.481/.917, 10 H, 2 HR, 6 2B, 8 R, 4 RBI
Third Baseman:
Bum Ho Lee (KOR), .400/.458/.900, 8 H, 3 HR, 2B, 5 R, 7 RBI
Shortstop:
Jimmy Rollins (USA), .417/.500/.750, 10 H, HR, 2 3B, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI
Outfield:
Yoennis Cespedes (CUB), .458/.480/1.000, 11 H, 2 HR, 3 3B, 2B, 5 R, 5 RBI
Frederich Cepeda (CUB), .500/.538/.958, 12 H, 3 HR, 2 2B, 5 R, 10 RBI
Norichika Aoki (JPN), .324/.381/.351, 12 H, 2B, 4 R, 7 RBI

MLB.com: Classic’s All-Tournament Team named

JPN 001 000 110 2  5 15 0
KOR 000 010 011 0  3  5 1

Box score

Ichiro Suzuki’s 2-Run-Single in the tenth frame helped Japan to beat Korea 5-3 and to defend their World Baseball Classic title in a thrilling final on Monday evening at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Olympic Champion had come back twice to erase deficits in the game, but they had no answer left for the heroics of the Seattle Mariners outfielder.

Japan took an early 1-0 lead in the third, when Michihiro Ogasawara brought home Hiroyuki Nakajima with a groundball single to right field. Shin-Soo Choo evened the score with a solo shot in the fifth, setting up a thrilling ending to a close game.

Team Nippon regained the lead in the seventh with a RBI single by Nakajima. They added another run in the top of the eighth through a sac fly by Akinori Iwamura. However Korea didn’t give up. Dae Ho Lee cut the deficit to a run with a sac fly in the eighth, before Bum Ho Lee tied the contest with a two-out RBI single to left field in the ninth.

But it was not enough. Japan had something left. Seiichi Uchikawa and Akinori Iwamura reached on singles in the tenth, advancing to second and third with two outs. Ichiro Suzuki stepped to the plate and hit the eighth pitch of Chang Yong Lim (L 0-1) into center field to drive in both runners and to put Japan back in front.

And this time closer Yu Darvish (BS 1, W 1-0), who came into the game at the beginning of the ninth, held on to the lead with a scoreless frame. Hisashi Iwakuma (JPN) started and allowed four hits, two runs and two walks in 7 2/3 innings, striking out six. Jung Keun Bong (KOR) on the opposing side couldn’t repeat his magic from the first two wins over Japan during the WBC. He gave up six hits, an unearned run and three base on balls in four-plus innings.

The dramatic game between two rivals was a fitting ending for an exciting 2009 World Baseball Classic with the same winner as three years ago. The two best teams of the tournament had reached the finals and they showed why. Good pitching, spectacular defense and timely hitting led to the success of the two Asian Baseball heavyweights, showing off their skills in the final.

IBAF president Dr. Harvey Schiller, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and the head of the MLBPA Donald Fehr handed out the trophy and the medals for the two teams. Japanese starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka once again received the MVP award for the WBC, after having a 3-0 record with an ERA of 1.69 in this year’s event. He now is 6-0 with an ERA of 1.95 in the two Classics combined. The next World Baseball Classic is scheduled for 2013, perhaps with more than 16 participating teams.

World Baseball Classic Schedule March 23:

Tuesday, 2.30am CET, WBC Final: Japan – Korea
(Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California, ESPN America, ESPN, MLB.tv live)
The new double elimination format led to exciting three weeks of play during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. But the system also has his flaws. Thanks to the unnecessary seeding games, we’ll have the pleasure to see a matchup between Japan and Korea for the fifth time in this year’s WBC. The two arch rivals already knew everything about each other before the event, but now there will be no secrets tonight in Chavez Ravine, which hopefully leads to a thrilling game.

Each team has won two of the four duels so far. The Korean hero, who was responsible for both of their victories, will step to the mound to make it 3-0 against Team Nippon. Jung Keun Bong has a 2-0 record and an overall ERA of 0.66 in 13 2/3 innings in the tournament. He allowed just six hits in 10 2/3 innings against Japan and should receive the MVP trophy, if he repeats his performance from the first two matches.

On the other side Hisashi Iwakuma (12.1 IP, 1-1, 0.73 ERA) will go out to silence the Korean offense, which is batting .255/.385/.421 with a WBC best 50 runs scored. Especially Tae Kyun Kim (.385/.515/.769) is thriving with three homeruns, nine runs scored and eleven RBI. Norichika Aoki leads Japan (.287/.359/.388) with eleven hits and seven RBI. The loss of slugger Shuichi Murata (.320/.379/.560, 4 runs, 2 HR, 7 RBI), who is sidelined since the end of the second round with a torn hamstring, could be decisive in a close matchup.

USA 101 000 020  4  9 3
JPN 010 500 03X  9 10 1

Box score

Japan receives a chance to defend its World Baseball Classic from 2006. They out-slugged Team USA on Sunday at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles 9-4 to set up a meeting with arch rival Korea in the 2009 World Baseball Classic final tonight. It will be the fifth match between these two teams in the tournament.

The American squad started strong into semi-final two, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to Brian Roberts, who smacked the second pitch of the game over the fence in center field for a leadoff homerun. Kenji Johjima evened the score in the second frame with a sac fly, before David Wright doubled in Jimmy Rollins (4-4, BB) for another one-run lead for Team USA.

However the advantage was short-lived. Japan picked up the pace and decided the outcome in the fourth. Atsunori Inaba tied the game, when second baseman Roberts couldn’t field the groundball by Kosuke Fukudome, starting a five-run rally. Johjima followed with his second sac fly of the night to put Team Nippon up in front. Akinori Iwamura, Munenori Kawasaki and Hiroyuki Nakajima extended the lead with a RBI triple, a RBI single and a RBI double to make it 6-2.

Team USA tried to come back in the eighth, when Mark DeRosa cut the deficit to two runs with a two-run double. But Evan Longoria and Brian Roberts struck out, respective grounded out with DeRosa standing at third to end the threat. In the bottom of the period, Munenori Kawasaki reached with two outs on a throwing error by shortstop Derek Jeter, driving home Yasuyuki Kataoka. Two more players scored on a single by Ichiro Suzuki and a double by Nakajima to seal the win.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (W 1-0) needed 98 pitches (57 strikes) to go 4 2/3 innings, but he held the American offense in check and picked up the win. Yu Darvish struck out two in a scoreless ninth. He allowed five hits, two runs and three base on balls, striking out four. Roy Oswalt (L 0-1) gave up six hits, six runs (4 ER) and a walk in 3 2/3 innings.

Despite the loss in the semi-finals, it was a successful World Baseball Classic for Team USA, which made a much better impression in comparison to the inaugural edition back in 2006, especially considering the many withdrawals and injuries before and during the tournament.

SUCCESS CONTINUES LEADING INTO SEMI-FINALS OF WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

Television Ratings, Attendance and Sponsorship Highlight First Two Rounds of 2009 World Baseball Classic

The 2009 World Baseball Classic has been an overwhelming success leading into the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The 36 games that have taken place have resulted in record-breaking television ratings and larger crowds than the inaugural tournament held in 2006. In a World Baseball Classic that promised to build on the excitement of the inaugural tournament, more companies are attracted by the increasing international appeal of baseball sponsorship opportunities.

Television ratings highlights through the first two rounds of the 2009 World Baseball Classic include:

• ESPN has averaged 1.68 million viewers, up 53% from the 1.1 million viewers in 2006
• ESPN registered a 1.3 rating on ESPN, up 30% from a 1.0 rating in 2006
• United States vs. Puerto Rico on March 14 delivered a 3.4 Hispanic rating on ESPN Deportes to become the highest rated World Baseball Classic telecast as well as the highest rated non-soccer event in the network’s history.
• ESPN Deportes has been the most watched ad-supported cable network among Hispanic men (18+) topping all other cable networks regardless of language.
• Japan ’s first Round Two game against Cuba on Sunday, March 15 delivered a 17.9 rating, even though it started at 4:45 a.m. on a Monday morning.
• The first match-up between Japan and Korea earned a rating of 37.8 in Japan – with more than 45 million viewers tuning in nationwide ranking it as the highest rated sporting event of any kind in Japan, surpassing even the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, since the 2006 World Baseball Classic Final between Japan and Cuba (43.4).
• Team Canada ’s television ratings increased 77% in Canada from the viewers that tuned into Canada ’s games in 2006.

The attendance for the 2009 World Baseball Classic has surpassed the 2006 World Baseball Classic to this point by approximately 8% with more than 659,000 fans attending games in 2009.

• Puerto Rico’s Round 2 defeat of the U.S. drew 30,595 to Miami ’s Dolphin Stadium on March 14
• More than 42,500 fans attended the opening two games of Round 2 featuring four foreign teams on March 15 at PETCO Park in San Diego
• The first match-up between Japan and Korea on March 7 was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 45,640 in the Tokyo Dome.
• The Rogers Centre in Toronto held a crowd of 42,314 on March 7 for the United States thrilling victory over Canada .

Fifty-six companies are sponsoring the 2009 World Baseball Classic globally or regionally – more than double the number of partners from the inaugural tournament.

• Partners are activating in 11 countries and territories that are participating in the event.
• Seven partners are activating in multiple regions
• 12 Teams wore patches on their uniform, helmet or both

KOR 520 102 000  10 10 1
VEN 001 000 100   2  9 5

Box score

Olympic champion Korea has reached the final of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They will play the winner of tonight’s matchup between Team USA and Japan on Monday. At the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Asian Baseball giant scored five runs in the first and a total of seven in the first two frames en route to an easy 10-2 victory over Venezuela in semi-final one on Saturday. The win never was in danger and Korea now has a chance to get a second big title in seven months.

Korea sent ten batters to the plate in the first inning to decide the outcome early. A RBI single by Hyun-Soo Kim and a RBI groundout by Dae Ho Lee put them up 2-0 with one out in the first period, before Cleveland Indians’ outfielder Shin-Soo Choo capped the rally with a three-run homerun over the fence in centerfield.

Ta Kyun Kim added two more runs in the second with a two-run shot into the left field stands, chasing the disappointing Venezuelan starter Carlos Silva (L 0-1) from the mound. He gave up six hits, seven runs (6 ER) and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. He had allowed just one earned run in eleven World Baseball Classic innings before.

On the other side, Suk-Min Yoon (W 1-0) had not much trouble to stifle the opposing star-studded lineup. He induced seven hits, two runs and a base on balls in 6 1/3 innings. Venezuela only scored on a RBI single by Melvin Mora in the third and a solo homerun by Carlos Guillen in the seventh. Additionally Korea added three more runs to seal the 10-2 win. Tae Kyun Kim went two-for-four with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI. Hyun-Soo Kim was three-for-three with a walk and two runs scored.

Overall Venezuela performed poorly throughout the game, caused by the early deficit. They committed five errors, including a dropped ball on a routine pop up to right fielder Bobby Abreu. Abreu, Guillen and Marco Scutaro each had two hits. Sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez went a combined 0-7 with a walk, leaving five men on base. It was a bad ending for a generally nice World Baseball Classic by Venezuela.

Three games are left in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. This weekend the semi-finals take place at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the finals will follow on Monday at the same place in Chavez Ravine. The managers have set their rosters and starting assignments for the decisive games and we’ll hope for an exciting final phase.

World Baseball Classic Schedule March 21/22:

Sunday, 2am CET, WBC Semis: Venezuela – Korea
(Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California, ESPN America, ESPN, MLB.tv live)
The semi-finals start on Saturday evening with the matchup between Olympic champion Korea and the lone remaining Latin American team in the competition, Venezuela. Both met the last time in the 2007 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan, with Korea winning 9-2. However especially the roster of Venezuela looks much different now, filled with Major League proven all-stars. Miguel Cabrera, Bobby Abreu and Magglio Ordonez form a fearsome heart of the batting order. They are probably the hottest team, going into the final round, having won five straight games and six of seven overall.

Carlos Silva (1-0, ERA 0.82) of the Seattle Mariners takes the mound for the team of manager Luis Sojo, who isn’t afraid to use super-closer Francisco Rodriguez for more than an inning. Korea counters with Suk-Min Yoon (1-0), who hasn’t allowed a run in 9 2/3 innings during the World Baseball Classic. In 2008 he finished fifth in the MVP voting in the Korean League after going 14-5 with an ERA of 2.33 for the Kia Tigers. Each team knows the opponent only from scouting reports and television. On paper Venezuela should be favored, having that much Major League talent on hand. However all four remaining teams in the WBC should be able to win it all.

Monday, 1am CET, WBC Semis: Japan – USA
(Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California, ESPN America, ESPN, MLB.tv live)
There is much more familiarity between the foes in the second semi-final on Sunday. Several of Japan’s players are in the MLB, including tomorrow’s starter. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, ERA 1.80) takes the mound for Team Nippon and he brings a WBC lifetime 5-0 record and an ERA of 1.57 into the game. However in difference to the MVP campaign in the 2006 classic, the batters on the opposing side will know him pretty well, as he is playing for the Boston Red Sox since 2007. Japan has won five of its seven games, having only lost to Korea. Tatsunori Hara has to replace big bat Shuichi Murata in the lineup, as he tore his right hamstring and is already back in his home country for treatment. Kenta Kurihara replaced him on the roster. Yasuyuki Kataoka should receive the start at third with Michihiro Ogasawara playing first.

Team USA and manager Davey Johnson also had to make a few roster and lineup adjustments. Third baseman and 2007 World Cup hero Evan Longoria was added to the team, though he isn’t likely to play. Mark DeRosa takes over at first, which puts Adam Dunn back into the outfield. David Wright, who has a cracked toe nail, should be back at third. Outfielder Ryan Braun, who is battling a rib cage injury, hopes to be back in the lineup too. Johnson wanted to add Derrek Lee to the roster, as he was the last remaining first baseman on the preliminary roster, but the Chicago Cubs star has a quad injury. Roy Oswalt (1-0, ERA 3.52) receives the starting nod and he is anxious to pitch, remembering the 2000 Olympics, when Team USA beat Cuba in the gold medal game.

Photo: © Ratti, FIBS

JPN 020 000 031  6 15 3
KOR 100 000 100  2  6 3

Box score

Japan scored four runs in the last two innings en route to a 6-2 victory over Korea, taking the first seed in Pool one. They now will face Team USA on Sunday in semi-final two. Korea is going to play against Venezuela one day earlier. It was the fourth meeting between the two Asian power houses in International Baseball with each winning two.

Michihiro Ogasawara put Japan back on top with a RBI single in the eighth. A two-run single by Akinori Iwamura made it 5-2. Norichika Aoki extended the lead to four runs with a RBI single in the ninth. Korea had tied the game 2-2 in the seventh through a solo homerun by Bum Ho Lee.

Korea had taken an early 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI double by Hyun-Soo Kim. But Team Nippon answered with two runs in the second behind a solo shot by Seiichi Uchikawa and a RBI single of Yasuyuki Kataoka. Each team used most of their players on the roster with Japan out-hitting Korea 15-6. Shuichi Murata pulled a hamstring in the fourth inning and will miss the rest of the WBC. He will be replaced on the roster by corner infielder Kenta Kurihara from Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

Tetsuya Utsumi (JPN) started and allowed three hits, a run and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. He was opposed by Wonsam Jang (KOR), who induced two runs (1 ER) on five hits in three innings. Hideaki Wakui (W 1-0) picked up the win, Seung Hwan Oh (L 0-1) took the loss.

Friday, 2am CET, WBC Pool 1: Korea – Japan
(PETCO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN, MLB.tv live)
Japan and Korea will meet for the fourth time in the 2009 World Baseball Classic on Thursday to conclude the second round. Korea has won two of the three (2-14, 1-0, 4-1) thanks to brilliant outings of pitcher Jung Keun Bong, who silenced Japanese batters with ease. Both teams already have their sights on the semi-finals next weekend and probably will use the match tonight to get some work in for players, who haven’t played much the past few weeks. Tetsuya Utsumi will begin for Team Nippon and faces Wonsam Jang in a duel between two southpaws. The winner is going to play against Team USA on Sunday, the loser takes on Venezuela on Saturday.

JPN 000 210 101  5 8 0
CUB 000 000 000  0 5 1

Box score

Japan secured the final spot in the 2009 World Baseball Classic semi-finals with a 5-0 shutout over Cuba on Wednesday evening in San Diego. It was the second time since Sunday that Team Nippon held Cuban batters without a run, a remarkable feat by their pitching. Japan will face Korea tonight in the seeding game of Pool one. Cuba is out.

To put the Cuban elimination in perspective we have to take a look at the International Baseball history. It will be their lowest finish in a big tournament since a third place in the 1951 Baseball World Cup. They had reached the past 40 finals in the big four competitions World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, Olympics and World Baseball Classic, winning 33 of them. Overall they had won 39 of 49 titles since 1939.

On Wednesday Hisashi Iwakuma (W 1-0) and reliever Toshiya Sugiuchi (S 1) put an end to the impressive streak of Cuba. Iwakuma allowed just five hits and a walk in six scoreless innings, striking out two. During his outing he never induced a hit with less than two outs, making the double by Leslie Anderson in the second  and the triple by Yoennis Cespedes in the sixth nearly meaningless, as he always got out of the two-out jam. Sugiuchi replaced him for the remaining three periods and was perfect in relief, striking out four of the nine batters he faced.

The Japanese offense came through in the fourth, when Norichika Aoki (4-5) and Atsunori Inaba scored with two outs from second and third on a dropped fly ball by Cespedes. The deep fly ball by Michihiro Ogasawara bounced in and out of the glove of the young outfielder. Two RBI singles by Aoki and a sac fly by Hiroyuki Nakajima extended the lead to five runs afterwards and sealed the victory. Yunieski Maya (L 0-2) gave up two unearned runs on four hits in 3 2/3 innings, taking the loss.

USA 011 121 000   6 12 3
VEN 060 103 00X  10 15 1

Box score

Venezuela used a six-run second inning en route to a 10-6 victory over Team USA. It was their fifth consecutive win in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, which brings them first seed and home field advantage going into the semi-finals next weekend in Los Angeles. The American team also advances.

Max Ramirez hit a three-run homerun for Venezuela. Miguel Cabrera went three-for-five with two RBI. Cesar Izturis and Gerardo Parra each scored twice. Mark DeRosa had three hits, a homerun and three RBI for the USA. Brian Roberts scored two times. Adam Dunn, who filled in a first base for the injured Kevin Youkilis, committed two of the three American errors, which led to four unearned runs.

Armando Galarraga (W 1-0) gave up eight hits, three runs (2 ER) and three walks in 3 1/3 innings, striking out two. He was opposed by Jeremy Guthrie (L 0-1), who allowed six runs (2 ER) on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings.

Manager Davey Johnson and the American medical staff received new injury news before and following the game. Kevin Youkilis had to be scratched from the roster due to a left ankle sprain and joins Dustin Pedroia, Matt Lindstrom and Chipper Jones, who are already out of the 2009 WBC.

Additionally David Wright fouled a pitch off his left big toe yesterday, cracking the nail, but is hopefully to continue to play. The same goes for outfielder Ryan Braun (rib cage), who missed the past two games. They can replace up to three players on the roster before the start of the final round. Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs is the likely substitute for Youkilis at first.

Midnight 12am CET, WBC Pool 2: Venezuela – USA
(Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida, ESPN America, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
The last two games were high-pressured competitions for Team USA, needing wins to avoid elimination, capped by the thrilling ninth inning in yesterday’s matchup with Puerto Rico. David Wright’s walk-off hit send the USA to the semis. Tonight they face Venezuela with starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles on the mound, determining the first seed from Pool 2. Manager Davey Johnson hopes that the right-hander can go six innings, as he had to use his bullpen heavily the past few days. It will be the third contest between the two teams in the World Baseball Classic, with each having one victory on its belt. Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers should receive the starting nod.

Thursday, 4am CET, WBC Pool 1: Cuba – Japan
(PETCO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
In another duel between Baseball-heavyweights Cuba and Japan will determine the last participant in the World Baseball Classic semi-finals today at PETCO Park in San Diego. The game comes just three days after their last meeting, when Japanese pitching with Daisuke Matsuzaka at the top shut out the powerful bats in a 6-0 win. Additionally their offense frustrated the Cuban pitching with their slap-hitting approach at the plate, using singles and small ball to score the six runs. But since then things have changed quickly. Cuba adjusted to the pitcher-friendly ballpark and defeated Mexico to stay alive. Japan had not much going in a 1-4 loss against Korea. Both starting pitchers, Hisashi Iwakuma and Yuniesky Maya, already pitched in relief on Sunday in the first match of the two teams. The winner goes to Chavez Ravine, the loser home.

The 32-year-old Ponson impressed in his two starts for the Netherlands during the WBC. Pitching in the opener of Pool D against the Dominican Republic his four-plus inning start laid the groundwork for the upsetting 3-2 victory, allowing just two runs on five hits and three base on balls. He again received the starting nod in the first match of round two against Venezuela. He pitched five strong innings, giving up two hits, two runs and a walk, while striking out three. Holland eventual lost, but Ponson make an impression with the scouts anyway.

Last year he made the Texas Rangers out of spring training and had a 4-1 record and a 3.88 ERA in nine starts, before off-the-field incidents led to his release. Ponson joined the New York Yankees and moved into the rotation as injury replacement, appearing in another 16 games (15 starts, 4-4, ERA 5.85). It was his eleventh year in the big leagues. In 284 games he has a 90-106 record with a career ERA of 4.95.

Ponson’s chances however to make the rotation in Kansas City are limited and he might is forced to start the year in Triple-A Omaha. Gil Meche, Zack Greinke and Kyle Davies are set for starting roles with the Royals. Luke Hochevar, Brian Bannister and Horacio Ramirez will battle with Ponson for the last two spots.

MLB.com: Royals ink Ponson to Minors deal

JPN 000 010 000  1 7 1
KOR 300 000 01X  4 4 0

Box score

Korea held on to an early three-run lead and defeated Japan 4-1 to advance into the semi-finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. It was the second victory by the Olympic champion over their arch rivals in three games during the tournament. They will play one more match in PETCO Park, determining first seed from Pool one. Japan will face Cuba tonight, in a battle over the last remaining spot in the semi-finals. Team Nippon had beaten Cuba 6-0 on Sunday.

Korea didn’t waste any time on Tuesday, scoring three runs in the first. Singles by Young-Kyu Lee and Keun-Woo Jeong put runners at the corners with no outs. Hyun Soo Kim followed with a groundball to second baseman Akinori Iwamura. He threw the ball to shortstop Yasuyuki Kataoka for the force attempt, but he missed the catch. Lee would have scored anyway. Tae Kyun Kim walked to load the bases, before Shin-Soo Choo struck out for the first out. Jin Young Lee put Korea up with three runs, singling to left field to drive in two runners. A double play ended the rally.

Japan cut the deficit to two runs in the fifth on a RBI ground out by Ichiro Suzuki, scoring Kosuke Fukudome. However this was the lone run the defending WBC champion would put on the board. Korea extended the lead back to three runs in the eighth through a two-out bases loaded walk by Bum Ho Lee. It was the fourth base on balls in the frame.

Jung Keun Bong (W 1-0) already was on the mound, when Korea shut out Japan in the seeding game of round one. The starter again was able to silence the powerful bats of Ichiro, Norichika Aoki or Shuichi Murata. Bong allowed just one run on three hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. He was opposed by 22-year-old phenomenon Yu Darvish (L 0-1), who showed his talent with seven strikeouts in five innings. But he also gave up four hits, three runs (2 ER) and a bb to take the loss.

PUE 010 201 001  5  5 1
USA 021 000 003  6 10 0

Box score

The excitement level for the World Baseball Classic in the United States might was not that high so far, compared to other participating countries. But this will change now. David Wright capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run walk-off single to right field, sending the USA into the semi-finals and the Puerto Rican team home. They turned a 3-5 deficit into a 6-5 win in one of the most thrilling game endings in WBC history.

After Puerto Rico crushed the Americans last Saturday 11-1, this one was much closer and way more dramatic. Alexis Rios homered in the top of the second to put Puerto Rico 1-0 in front. But Team USA countered with three runs in the next two frames, highlighted by Kevin Youkilis’ solo shot to left field. It was a short-lived lead, as Carlos Delgado tied the game with a two-run homerun in the fourth. Rios regained the lead for Puerto Rico with a RBI single in the sixth. They added an insurance run in the ninth on a RBI single by Ramon Vazquez, setting up the drama in the bottom of the frame.

Shane Victorino and Brian Roberts led off the ninth with singles, Derek Jeter flied out, before Jimmy Rollins walked to load the bases with one out. Fernando Cabrera (BS 1) came in to replace J.C. Romero (L 0-1), but wasn’t much better, as he walked Youkilis on five pitches to force in Victorino for the fourth American run. Wright stepped to the plate, looked at the first three pitches for a 2-1 count and sliced the fourth into right field, sending home Roberts and Rollins to decide the game in walk-off style. Team USA celebrated like winning a World Series, putting the World Baseball Classic back into the headlines of American newspapers.

Ted Lilly (USA) started and allowed two hits, three runs and three base on balls in 3 1/3 innings. Jonathan Sanchez (PUE) began for Puerto Rico, giving up five hits, three runs and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Jonathan Broxton (W 1-0) picked up the win. Both pitching staffs got help from their defense throughout the game. Mark DeRosa and Brian Roberts made diving stops, Carlos Beltran saved a homerun against Brian McCann with a grab over the center field wall. The squad of manager Davey Johnson will play Venezuela in the seeding game of Pool two today, before traveling to Los Angeles for the final round.

World Baseball Classic Schedule, March 17:

Midnight 12am CET, WBC Pool 2: USA – Puerto Rico
(Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida, ESPN America, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
Three days after Puerto Rico crushed Team USA 11-1 in seven innings in the round-two opener, both teams will meet again. The winner advances into the semi-finals, the loser goes home. The American roster of manager Davey Johnson is getting smaller the past few days. Chipper Jones (oblique strain), Ryan Braun (rib cage) and Matt Lindstrom (strained rotator cuff) will not be available. He also already needed to replace Dustin Pedroia with Brian Roberts last weekend. Johnson is changing the top of the batting order, putting Roberts into the leadoff spot, followed by Derek Jeter, who is expected to play at short, DH Jimmy Rollins, Kevin Youkilis and David Wright. Southpaw Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs is projected to start.

Puerto Rico lost for the first time on Monday (0-2 vs. Venezuela) and plays for the first time in the World Baseball Classic an elimination game. Left-hander Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants takes the mound, hoping to silence the American bats as like as Javier Vazquez did last Saturday. He shut out the Netherlands in his lone start so far, but will face a different caliber on opposing batters this time.

Wednesday, 4am CET, WBC Pool 1: Korea – Japan
(PETCO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN America, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
For the third time already in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Korea and Japan will face each other. The winner reaches the semi-finals, the loser draws a win-or-go-home game against Cuba on Wednesday. Japan beat up Korea 14-2 ten days ago during the preliminary round. The Olympic champion fought back and prevailed 1-0 in the seeding game of Pool A.

22-year-old right-hander Yu Darvish receives the starting nod for Team Nippon. He has pitched five innings in two games, still waiting to allow a run. Korea counters with Jung Keun Bong, who gave up just three hits in five-plus innings in the 1-0 shutout over Japan in the first round. With these two hurlers on the mound in the big ballpark in San Diego, we’ll hopefully see a real pitcher’s duel to determine the first semi-finalist of Pool one tonight.

CUB 101 030 200  7 11 0
MEX 001 100 011  4  7 0

Box score

It wasn’t a 16-4 pounding as in round one, but Cuba again defeated Mexico, this time by a score of 7-4, and stayed alive in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They now will face the loser of today’s Japan-Korea game on Wednesday. Mexico is going home.

Each team scored twice in the first four innings. The outcome was decided in the fifth. Cuba loaded the bases with none out. Frederich Cepeda (3-4, BB, 4 RBI), who had a RBI single earlier in the third, ripped a line drive into center field for a double, clearing the bases for a 5-2 lead. Yoennis Cespedes provided some important insurance in the seventh with a two-run triple. Leonys Martin and Michel Enriquez scored two runs apiece.

Mexico was able to cut the deficit to three runs in the last two innings through solo homeruns by Jorge Cantu and Cristhian Presichi. But it was too little too late. After being down 0-2 early on, they evened the score with a Freddy Sandoval RBI single in the third and a RBI groundout by Scott Hairston in the fourth. However in the end the gap was too big to repeat a comeback.

Norge Vera (W 1-0) started for Cuba on the mound and allowed three hits, two runs and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five. Pedro Lazo (S 1) closed it out with 4 1/3 innings of solid relief. He gave up just two runs on four hits, punching out six. Jorge Campillo (L 0-1) was hit hard, inducing eight hits, five runs and three base on balls in four-plus innings.

VEN 001 000 100  2 8 0
PUE 000 000 000  0 5 0

Box score

The two Hernandez’ lead Venezuela to a 2-0 shutout over Puerto Rico and into the semi-finals of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They now will face the winner of today’s Puerto Rico-USA game on Wednesday to determine first seed from Pool two. Before the start of yesterday’s match Puerto Rico was the lone undefeated team in the tournament.

The winner-winner matchup was a pitcher’s duel with Seattle Mariner ace Felix Hernandez (W 1-0) delivering. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed just four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven. The relievers Carlos Vazquez, Enrique Gonzalez, Ramon Ramirez and Francisco Rodriguez combined to give up just one more hit and two base on balls in the reminder of the contest. Rodriguez picked up his second save of the WBC with his second four-out appearance in the second round.

The offense Venezuela’s provided the necessary run support in the third, when Bobby Abreu walked, stole second and scored on a single to center field by Carlos Guillen. Ramon Hernandez doubled the lead in the seventh with a solo homerun to left center field. The hit first was ruled a triple, as the ball caromed back to the field. But after watching the replay, the umpiring crew overturned the first call. Hernandez finished with three hits.

Puerto Rico put runners on second and third several times, but failed to score against a focused opposing pitching staff. Ian Snell (L 0-1) struck out five in four innings, inducing five hits, one run and two walks. It was a solid game by the Puerto Rican hurlers, but didn’t receive any help from their offense.

The 3-9 loss to Team USA on Sunday had a some kind of a sour taste for the Netherlands. First the late-second edition of Brian Roberts seemed to energize the American offense, deciding the outcome early. Roberts replaced Dustin Pedroia in the lineup, who was scratched from the roster shortly before the start of the second round on Saturday due to an injury. Some voices say that Roberts was added too late to American team, but the Dutch delegation didn’t file a protest after some discussions.

Later in the game, Florida Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom nearly created a brawl between the two teams, when he responded to Bryan Engelhardt’s solo homerun with a fastball behind the back of Vince Rooi, though not head-high, like some indicated. It was not the homerun itself, which irked Lindstrom, but the little Manny Ramirez moment by Engelhardt after hitting the pitch over the fence at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The hard-throwing right-hander acknowledged after the game that the following pitch to Rooi was a little bit of retaliation, but also said it simply got away.

Netherlands manager Rod Delmonico wasn’t happy about it:

“I think it’s one thing to throw inside, establish a ball inside,” Netherlands manager Rod Delmonico said. “But to throw it up around someone’s head and throw behind his head, there’s no room for that anywhere, especially at the World Baseball Classic. I thought that was classless, to be honest with you.”

Lindstrom later left with a sore shoulder.

However these two little things didn’t take away anything from the more than just successful World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands. Rogier van Zorn of the Honkbalsite.com reports that the European portion of the roster will return home on Tuesday, arriving at 9.45am CET in Amsterdam. The Minor Leaguers will report to their teams in Spring Training.

More reading material after the Netherlands Elimination from the World Baseball Classic:

ESPN.com: U.S. bounces back, dispatches Dutch

MLB.com: Dutch run out of steam in Classic

MLB.com: Netherlands proved itself to the world

USA Today: World Baseball Classic has globalized game

San Francisco Examiner: World Baseball Classic: Team USA ends Dutch Cinderella story

NY Times: Trouncing Dutch, U.S. avoids unspeakable

NY Times: Dutch G.M.’s Son taught him never to give up

NY Times: Lindstrom’s ill-advised pitch

Missourian: Global Journalist: World Baseball Classic more than just exhibition play (including Q&A with Robert Eenhoorn)

Tuesday, 1am CET, WBC Pool 2: Puerto Rico – Venezuela
(Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida, ESPN America, ESPN, MLB.tv live)
Puerto Rico and Venezuela will meet at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami on Monday evening to determine the first semi-finalist from Pool 2 of the World Baseball Classic. Puerto Rico crushed Team USA on Saturday and is the only remaining undefeated team in the competition. Ian Snell is going to start. The right-hander of the Pittsburgh Pirates would be allowed to throw 85 pitches in this round-two matchup. However manager Jose Oquendo lowered this mark to 75 for his hurlers, trying to protect them so early in the year. He still hopes Snell can go five innings.

Venezuela was the most dominant team on offense during the first round with nearly half of their hits going for extra bases. Nonetheless in their first second round match against the Netherlands they needed just three hits to score three runs en route to a 3-1 victory. All three were towering flyballs, Endy Chavez led off with a triple, Miguel Cabrera and Jose Lopez closed it out with solo homeruns. Felix Hernandez is expected to start and he hopes to be as effective as his Seattle Mariners teammate Carlos Silva on Saturday, who went seven innings against the Dutch team. The loser of this game will face Team USA on Tuesday.

Tuesday, 4am CET, WBC Pool 1: Cuba – Mexico
(PETCO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
Before the start of yesterday’s game against Japan, Cuba was one of just two undefeated teams in the tournament. Thanks to the double elimination format, now they are on the verge of being eliminated. Despite their probably strongest showing in defense, shaky pitching and a nearly non-existent offense they lost to the defending champion. Another defeat and one of the biggest tournament favorites would be ousted. This would be the biggest upset in the World Baseball Classic so far from an international standpoint, even bigger than the two stunning victories by the Netherlands over the Dominican Republic. Cuba has won 33 of 40 tournaments since 1952 and never finished lower than third since 1939. If Mexico can pull off the upset Cuba would finish in seventh place.

However their chances are pretty slim. During the first round they destroyed Mexican pitching with a 16-4 pounding. But this was ‘only’ the seeding game. Now it is win or go home. Both teams relied on the homerun during the first phase at the Foro Sol Stadium, but now should have discovered that the ball doesn’t travel well at sea level in spacious PETCO Park. As Aroldis Chapman pitched on Sunday, Norge Vera should take the mound tonight and he is certainly experienced enough to handle the situation. Jorge Campillo of the Atlanta Braves should receive the starting nod for Mexico, as their number two starter of round one, Elmer Dessens pitched in relief of Oliver Perez on Sunday. Cuba is heavily favored, but a loss wouldn’t be the first stunner in this exciting World Baseball Classic.

MEX 020 000 000  2  9 1
KOR 020 110 40X  8 12 1

Box score

Korea had a prefect start into the second round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They defeated Mexico at PETCO Park in San Diego 8-2, setting up a third matchup against Japan in the tournament. The two winners from Sunday will face each other on Tuesday to determine the first semi-finalist from Pool one. Mexico needs to take on Cuba tonight, hoping to avoid elimination.

Mexico actually had the better start into the game, loading the bases in the second and putting two runs on the board via a two-run single by Augie Ojeda from the Arizona Diamondbacks. However it was the last time that they were able to bring a runner home. Korea answered right away. Bum Ho Lee cut the deficit in a half with a solo shot over the left field fence. Yong-Kyu Lee tied it on a throwing error by second baseman Edgar Gonzalez moments later.

The first-place team from Pool A took the lead through solo homeruns by Tae Kyun Kim and Young Min Ko in the fourth and fifth innings. Tae Kyun Kim added two more runs with a two-run single in the seventh, starting a four-run rally, which was capped by a sac fly from Yong-Kyu Lee and a RBI single by Ki Hyuk Park.

Hyunjin Ryu started for Korea and gave up five hits, two runs and a walk in 2 2/3 innings, striking out three. Hyun Wook Jong (W 1-0) picked up the win with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit, one-walk relief. Oliver Perez (L 0-1) of the New York Mets took the loss, allowing six hits, four runs (3 ER) and two base on balls in 4 2/3 innings. He induced all three homeruns by Korea.

NED 000 000 120  3 12 1
USA 120 311 01X  9 12 1

Box score

The Cinderella story is over. Team USA defeated the Netherlands on Sunday 9-3 and eliminated the last remaining European participant in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. It was a nice run by the Dutch team, putting Baseball from the old continent into the headlines. They don’t need to be disappointed after two impressive victories over the Dominicans in round one and can travel home proud of themselves.

Second baseman Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles, who replaced the injured Dustin Pedroia on the American roster, was in the lineup for the first time, forming an unstoppable duo at the top of the batting order with shortstop Jimmy Rollins. They combined to hit five-for-seven with two walks, four runs scored and five RBI. After a sac fly by David Wright in the first, it was Rollins, who made it 3-0 with a two-run homerun. Two frames later Rollins and Roberts went back-to-back with RBI triples.

Overall Team USA scored in six of the first eight innings. Each player in the starting lineup reached base at least once, seven scored. Adam Dunn hit a towering solo homerun over the center field wall into the covered seats at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The Netherlands had offensively probably their best game, but it was not enough, as the Major-League-filled team overwhelmed them with their run-scoring capabilities.

Yurendell de Caster put Holland on the board in the seventh, driving in Sharlon Schoop with a RBI double. One period later Bryan Engelhardt homered to right field and Schoop brought in Danny Rombley with a sac fly. They managed twelve hits in the contest, with Eugene Kingsale, De Caster, Sidney de Jong and Engelhardt leading the pack with two apiece.

Roy Oswalt (W 1-0) started for the USA, allowing five hits in four innings, striking out five. LaTroy Hawkins, Scot Shields, Brad Ziegler, Matt Lindstrom, John Grabow and Jonathan Broxton closed it out. Rick van den Hurk (L 0-1) threw just 27 of his 55 pitches over the plate and gave up four hits, three runs (1 ER) and two walks in two innings.

Juan Sulbaran (1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, SO), Michiel van Kampen (0.2 IP, BB), David Bergman (0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R), Diegomar Markwell (0.1 IP, BB), Leon Boyd (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 SO), Dennis Neuman (1 IP, 2 BB) and Berry van Driel (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB) also got in the game for the Dutch, showing their stuff against the All-Star team.

JPN 003 110 001  6 12 2
CUB 000 000 000  0  8 0

Box score

Daisuke Matsuzaka led the Japanese team to a 6-0 shutout over Cuba in the opener of Pool one at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. It was the first loss for the Cuban team, which now needs desperately a victory on Monday to stay alive, facing the loser of the Korea-Mexico game.

“Dice-K” Matsuzaka (W 1-0), MVP of the 2006 World Baseball Classic, allowed just five hits, none for extra bases, through six innings. He struck out eight. Hisashi Iwakuma, Takahiro Mahara and Kyuji Fujikawa each gave up a hit in one inning of relief, but kept the Cuban zero on the board, closing out the shutout.

Behind the strong pitching effort, the Japanese offense had a better approach for the spacious PETCO Park in San Diego. They loaded the bases with one out against Cuban starter Aroldis Chapman, chasing him from the game early. Norberto Gonzalez replaced him, but promptly forced in Akinori Iwamura with a wild pitch past catcher Ariel Pestano for the first run by Team Nippon. Norichika Aoki and Shuichi Murata followed with a RBI single and a sac fly to make it 3-0.

A RBI force out and two RBI singles by Ichiro Suzuki, Seiichi Uchikawa and Murata drove in insurance runs and doubled the gap until the end of the game, sealing the 6-0 shutout. Cuba, which made some fine defensive plays, never got things going offensively. The top of their batting order with Yoennis Cespedes, Michel Enriquez and Frederich Cepeda was a combined six-for-twelve with just two strikeouts, but the rest of the lineup failed to drive them in, going 2-21 with ten K’s.

Hard-throwing lefty Chapman (L 0-1) lit up the radar gun in San Diego, but had a few control issues and took the loss. He induced three hits, three runs and three walks, striking out just one in 2 1/3 innings. The southpaw picked off Uchikawa and Michihiro Ogasawara in the second inning.

World Baseball Classic Schedule for Sunday, March 15:

9pm CET, WBC Pool 1: Cuba – Japan
(PECTO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
With Cuba winning Pool B through three straight wins and Japan being seeded in second place of Pool A after round one of the World Baseball Classic, we’ll see a rematch of the 2006 WBC finals in the Pool 1 opener tonight in San Diego. Three years ago Japan won 10-6. In the 2008 Olympics Cuba prevailed 4-2 in the round robin phase. Daisuke Matsuzaka will start for Japan on Sunday. Cuban manager Higinio Velez didn’t name a starter yet, but we should expect Norge Vera on the mound, as he hasn’t pitched since game one of the tournament.

Monday, 0.30am CET, WBC Pool 2: USA – Netherlands
(Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
Team USA and the Netherlands will fight against elimination on Sunday, hoping to avoid being the first squad to go home in round two. The Dutch team needs to pull off another upset, but is fully motivated after a nice outing on Saturday against Venezuela. The offense didn’t seem too much overmatched in the 1-3 loss and the pitching staff continued its impressive work from round one, allowing just three hits against the best offense of the first phase. Rick van den Hurk of the Florida Marlins is scheduled to take the mound, pitching in his home ballpark.

The USA not only lost against Puerto Rico, but was embarrassed by Carlos Beltran and Co. in just two hours and 15 minutes 1-11. Additionally they lost American League MVP Dustin Pedroia before the game because of an oblique strain. He will be replaced by Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles on the roster. Davey Johnson returns to the helm after attending the wedding of his stepson yesterday. He will send Roy Oswalt to the mound, opposing the Netherlands offense.

Monday, 4am CET, WBC Pool 1: Korea – Mexico
(PECTO Park, San Diego, California, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
It was certainly not a boring first round for each Korea or Mexico. The Korean team pounded Taiwan 9-0 in the Pool A opener, then lost 2-14 against Japan, beat up China 14-0, before getting revenge against Japan with a 1-0 shutout, taking the first seed in the Asian group of the World Baseball Classic. Mexico was surprisingly crushed by the Australian team 7-17 in game one of Pool B, needing a 14-3 clubbing against South Africa to stay alive and a 16-1 payback against the Aussies to advance. Finally they lost by a 4-16 margin versus Cuba to finish in second place. These are a combined 135 runs in eight games with Korean and Mexican participation. But these matches happened in ballparks, best suited for hitters. This will change today in San Diego, where the ball doesn’t travel so well as in Tokyo or Mexico City. Oliver Perez will face Hyun Jin Ryu on the mound in the beginning. In the 2006 WBC Korea defeated Mexico 2-1.

USA 000 010 0   1  6 0
PUE 240 010 4  11 13 0

Box score

Puerto Rico scored six runs in the first two innings en route to an 11-1 pounding against Team USA on the first day of round two in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Four runs in the seventh frame even led to an early ending due to mercy rule. The Americans now will be the next opponent of the Dutch team on Sunday, which had lost earlier on Saturday against Venezuela. Puerto Rico plays them on Monday.

Against one of the best pitchers in all of Baseball, Puerto Rico had no problems at all to kick off the offense early on. Carlos Delgado and Alex Rios built up a 2-0 lead in the opening frame on a RBI single and a sac fly. They blew the game wide open in the second period through a two-run homerun by Felipe Lopez and RBIs by Carlos Beltran and Delgado, chasing Jake Peavy (L 0-1) from the game.

Both teams exchanged runs through RBI doubles by Brian McCann and Ivan Rodriguez in the fifth, before Puerto Rico closed it out with another four-run rally in the seventh. Beltran and Lopez set it up with a solo homerun and another RBI double. Mike Aviles finalized the 11-1 score with a two-run single.

Beltran went three-for-three with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI. Lopez had two hits, scored twice and drove in three. Each player in the Puerto Rican lineup had at least a run or a RBI. Adam Dunn and McCann each had two hits for a disappointing Team USA that never had a real chance to come back.

Peavy allowed six hits, six runs and two base on balls in just two innings. The bullpen with Joel Hanrahan, John Grabow, Heath Bell and J.J. Putz more or less held the Puerto Rican offense in check afterwards, before Matt Thornton (0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB) imploded like Peavy.

On the other side, Javier Vazquez (W 1-0), who has a reputation to falter in important games, pitched five solid innings, giving up one run on four hits, striking out two. 50 of his 67 pitches were strikes. Nelson Figueroa, Javier Lopez and Saul Rivera combined to induce just two more hits in the reminder of the contest.

Team USA had to remove second baseman Dustin Pedroia from the starting lineup after he strained his oblique. The World Baseball Classic is likely over for the 2008 American League MVP. Mark DeRosa of the Cleveland Indians replaced him. Chipper Jones was back in the lineup as the designated hitter.

NED 010 000 000  1 6 0
VEN 100 100 01X  3 3 2

Box score

The Dutch team missed out on another surprise in the round-two opener of the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Venezuela. At the Dolphin Stadium in Miami, the team of manager Luis Sojo scrapped out a 3-1 victory over the Netherlands. The European squad actually out-hit the Major League filled team 6-3 and even had a chance to win. Holland will return to the field on Sunday, taking on the loser of tonight’s matchup between Team USA and Puerto Rico. Venezuela plays the winner on Monday.

Venezuela had a quick start into the match, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Endy Chavez leading off with a triple to center field and scoring on a groundout by Melvin Mora. But as several times before in the World Baseball Classic, the Dutch wasn’t shocked at all and evened the score one frame later.

Yurendell de Caster reached on an error by shortstop Cesar Izturis to start the second inning. However Izturis made up for the mistake moments later, easily throwing out De Caster at the plate, trying to score from first on a double by Bryan Engelhardt. But they tied it anyway, as Engelhardt scored on Vince Rooi’s groundball single through the middle.

After the rough beginning, Dutch pitching settled in, but Venezuela made the few hits count. Miguel Cabrera smacked a high fastball by Sidney Ponson over the fence in the fourth to regain the lead. Jose Lopez delivered some insurance in the eighth with a homerun to left field. A few minutes earlier an error by Lopez made things interesting, as the miscue on a routine groundball by Sharlon Schoop put runners on first and second with one out. Eugene Kingsale popped and Sharnol Adriana grounded out to end the threat.

Ponson (L 0-1) had another nice outing for the Netherlands, going five innings, allowing just two hits, two runs and a walk, while striking out three. Rob Cordemans followed with two perfect frames, striking out three, before Dennis Neuman gave up the third Venezuelan run. Alex Smit closed it out on the Dutch side with a scoreless period.

Carlos Silva (W 1-0) used the sometimes too aggressive approach by the Dutch hitters for his advantage, going seven effective innings, inducing one run on four hits, striking out four. Yoel Hernandez and Carlos Vazquez each got one out, before Sojo brought in closer Francisco Rodriguez for a four-out save, striking out two.

Don’t trying to take anything away from another nice performance by the Dutch National Team, but they even had the chance for a better result. In the first inning after Chavez’ leadoff triple, they could have played the infield in, trying to stop him from scoring through Melvin Mora’s groundout to shortstop Sharlon Schoop. A frame later, De Caster was waved home with no outs on Engelhardt’s double and was thrown out by several feet. This ill-fated decision hurt especially, when Rooi followed with a single, which also would have driving in De Caster besides Engelhardt for a potential 2-1 Dutch lead.

Schedule World Baseball Classic, Saturday, March 14:

6pm CET, WBC Pool 2: Venezuela – Netherlands
(Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
The Dutch team was an underdog at the beginning of the World Baseball Classic and they will remain in this role despite winning twice against the Dominicans. Sidney Ponson takes the mound to continue the Cinderella story, after allowing two runs in four-plus innings in last Saturday’s stunning 3-2 win over David Ortiz and Co. He again will face a loaded lineup with Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez and Bobby Abreu in the middle of the order. But he should be experienced enough to handle the situation. The question is, if his stuff is good enough and if he receives run support from his offense.

It will be the third game versus a European team in the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela, after beating Italy twice in round one at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Manager Luis Sojo gives the starting nod to Seattle Mariner Carlos Silva, who pitched four scoreless innings in their WBC opener a week ago. In difference to the first game, Felix Hernandez is not expected to follow in relief. Sojo hopes to get at least five innings out of Silva, maybe seven, trying to get the ball to closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Sunday, 1am CET, WBC Pool 2: Puerto Rico – USA
(Dolphin Stadium Miami, Florida, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
Without Davey Johnson as manager in the dugout, who is attending the wedding of his stepson, but with Jake Peavy on the mound as the starting pitcher, Team USA tries to start into round two without drama. Javier Vazquez will begin for Puerto Rico. Both offenses feature all-star studded lineups, which only had three games since last Saturday and need to get rid of any rust quickly, or the World Baseball Classic could be over in a second.

Following the two stunning victories over the Dominican Republic in round one of the 2009 World Baseball Classic by the Netherlands, the Dutch Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Renee Jones-Bos talked to ESPN in an interview. The reigning European Champion plays Venezuela in the round-two opener on Saturday at the Dolphin Stadium in Miami.

Japan:
The Japanese World Baseball Classic team went to Arizona waiting for the second round and played their second and last exhibition match on Thursday. Against the Chicago Cubs and Carlos Zambrano they celebrated a 3-2 victory. Kosuke Fukudome hit a RBI single against his employing Major League team. Yu Darvish gave up two hits and two runs in two scoreless innings, picking up the win. With his appearance on the mound, it is much likely that Daisuke Matsuzaka will get the start against Cuba on Sunday.

Korea:
The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a 1-2 deficit to beat Korea 4-2 in a friendly in Glendale, Arizona. Chin-Lung Hu delivered the decisive two-run single in the eighth. Shin-Soo Choo again was in the starting lineup of Korea, walking three times in five plate appearances. Jong Wook Lee had two hits.

Netherlands:
The odds that Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Dutch team in the second round got very low on Thursday. The right-handed starting pitcher of the Atlanta Braves pitched four innings in a spring training game, making an appearance this weekend impossible. Apparently he was called on Wednesday, if he would consider joining the team in Miami and he probably would have, if there would be an injury on the Dutch pitching staff. But he started yesterday anyway and isn’t prepared to pitch again until next Tuesday. He will try to attend Saturday’s game between the Netherlands and Venezuela.

Team USA:
Manager Davey Johnson praised the Dutch team and is proud of them, still having connections to the Netherlands due to his experiences as their manager in 2003, filling in for Robert Eenhoorn. He also was the Dutch bench coach in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Johnson will miss Saturday’s opener against Puerto Rico, as he is attending the wedding of his stepson. Barry Larkin will replace him at the helm. Third Baseman Chipper Jones hopes to play on Saturday after sitting out the last game due to an oblique strain. He took batting practice and fielded grounders and seems ready to go.

Schedule World Baseball Classic:
Saturday, March 14:
Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida
7pm CET Venezuela – Netherlands
Sunday, 1am CET Puerto Rico – USA

Sunday, March 15:
PETCO Park, San Diego, California
3pm CET Cuba – Japan
Monday, 4am CET Korea – Mexico

MEX 002 110 0   4  5 0
CUB 101 500 9  16 17 1

Box score

Cuba set up a rematch of the 2006 World Baseball Classic finals with Japan in the round-two opener, after celebrating a lopsided 16-4 victory over Mexico on Thursday. At the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City, the Cuban team used two big innings to secure first seed in Pool B. Mexico advances too and is going to play against Korea on Sunday at PETCO Park in San Diego, where the tournament continues for all four mentioned countries.

After each team scored twice in the first three frames, Mexico took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth on Agustin Murillo’s RBI double. But it was a short-lived advantage. Yulieski Gourriel put Cuba back in front with a two-run homerun. Yoennis Cespedes followed with a RBI single and Michel Enriquez concluded the five-run rally with a two-run double.

The contest went into the seventh with the score at 7-4, when Cuba blew the game wide open with nine runs, winning 16-4 due to ten-run mercy rule. Gourriel started the outburst with a two-run double to bring his RBI total for the match to four. Ariel Pestano and Frederich Cepeda added three-run homeruns to seal the win.

Freddy Sandoval, Oscar Robles and Karim Garcia homered for Mexico. Australia, Cuba and Mexico hit a total of 28 homeruns during the six days of competition at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City, about 2000 meters above sea level. Now the sluggers of Cuba and Mexico will try their luck on the opposite of the spectrum, at PETCO Park in San Diego, where pitchers love to throw the ball.

Both teams used the game on Thursday to get some work in for hurlers, who weren’t much used in the first days of the World Baseball Classic. Pablo Ortega allowed two hits and a run in his two-inning start. He was opposed by Ciro Licea, who gave up one hit and two base on balls in 1 1/3 innings for Cuba. Yulieski Gonzalez (W 1-0) received the win, Francisco Campos (L 0-1) took the loss.

Manager Rod Delmonico will replace Statia with Dwayne Kemp on the roster. The 21-year-old, under contract with the Chicago Cubs organization, is expected to arrive in Miami on Friday. The infielder also was with the team during the early preparation phase in Florida, being a pinch hitter versus the Korean Woori Heroes.

Additionally Rogier van Zorn reports that there are rumors that starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens of the Atlanta Braves could join the pitching staff of the Netherlands team during the second round. Apparently the right-hander has indicated interest and the Braves aren’t opposed a participation from their best 2008 starter. However a decision hasn’t been made yet.

No word about Seattle Mariners top prospect Gregory Halman and his absence from the lineup the last two games. He had some problems at the plate in the first three games, going one-for-nine with a double, a run scored and unfortunately seven strikeouts. Will Gonzalez of MLB.com talked to him two days ago.

World Baseball Classic Schedule March 12:

Friday, 2am CET, WBC Pool B: Cuba – Mexico
(Foro Sol Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
Mexico got revenge for the 7-17 loss from last Sunday and eliminated Australia with an impressive 16-1 romp. It was also another high-scoring affair at the Foro Sol Stadium, bringing the total of runs scored to 76 in the five games in Pool B until today. Tonight they will face Cuba, which hasn’t impressed the tough critics in their home country  so far. Of course they hit six homeruns en route to an easy 8-1 victory over South Africa in the opener, but missed out the opportunity to finish the game early. On Tuesday they even were on the verge of losing against Australia, needing a late homerun to clinch a win.

The stakes are clear. The winner of today’s matchup faces Japan in the round-two opener, the loser Korea. It is kind of picking your poison. On one sides waits the defending World Baseball Classic champion with Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hisashi Iwakuma anchoring the pitching staff. On the other side is the Olympic champion, which came back from a tough loss to clinch first seed in Pool A. It is also the last chance for a slugfest for Cuba and Mexico, as they will leave the launching pad Foro Sol, traveling to pitcher’s heaven PETCO Park in San Diego.

Exhibitions in Arizona:
Even before Cuba and Mexico battle for first place in Pool B, their waiting opponents will round up the exhibition schedule of World Baseball Classic teams against Major League Baseball clubs. Yesterday Japan overcame a 0-4 deficit against San Francisco and Tim Lincecum to win 6-4. Norichika Aoki had three hits. Korea got crushed by the Padres 4-10. Despite the health concerns Shin-Soo Choo was in the lineup as the DH. They will finish the two-day warm-ups in Arizona this afternoon against the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Schedule:
4pm ET: Chicago Cubs – Japan
4pm ET: Los Angeles Dodgers – Korea

MEX 004 714  16 13 0
AUS 000 100   1  6 0

Box score

After Australia crushed Mexico last Sunday, everybody hoped for a thriller in the decisive game of Pool B at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City. However the Mexican offense wanted payback and got it with a 16-1 victory in six innings, winning with the 15-run mercy rule. They will face Cuba in the last round one match tonight. Australia has to go home after a nonetheless nice performance, at least in the first two games.

After two scoreless opening frames, Mexico put on an offensive show over the next four innings. Starting with four in the third, they put runs on the board at will and only could be stopped by the rules in the sixth, leading by 15 runs. Karim Garcia went four-for-four with two homeruns, four runs scored and four RBI. Scott Hairston hit a two-run shot. Edgar Gonzalez drove in three. Six different players scored at least twice. Brett Roneberg accounted for the lone Australian run, a solo homerun in the fourth.

Jorge Campillo (W 1-0) of the Atlanta Braves allowed one run on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out two. Rodrigo Lopez closed it out with 1 1/3 perfect frames. David Welch (L 0-1) got the start for the Aussies, giving up four hits, four runs and base on balls in three innings. He was followed by seven pitchers, who couldn’t provide any relief, until Scott Mitchinson got the last two outs without letting a Mexican runner to score.

VEN 001 012 100  5 12 1
USA 000 100 020  3  7 0

Box score

Venezuela set up a matchup with the Netherlands on Saturday in round two, when they defeated Team USA on Wednesday at the Rogers Centre 5-3, taking the number one seed in Pool C. The Americans had crushed Venezuela in the first match last Sunday, but were off the past few days and looked a little rusty on a few occasions. They will face Puerto Rico at Dolphin Stadium in Miami in the round-two opener.

Henry Blanco put Venezuela on the board in the third, sending a pitch of Ted Lilly over the left field wall. Team USA came back, tying the contest one frame later through a RBI double by Ryan Braun. But the team of manager Luis Sojo took the lead for good between the fifth and seventh periods. Gregor Blanco drove in Henry Blanco with a triple to center field, Toronto Blue Jay Marco Scutaro added two runs in the sixth with a single and Melvin Mora followed with a RBI single in the seventh, building up the gap to four runs.

Chris Iannetta cut the deficit to two runs in the eighth with a two-run homerun. The USA threatened to rally in the ninth against Francisco Rodriguez (S 1), putting Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter on base with a walk and on a fielding error and one out. But Jeter was thrown out on the back end of a double steal by Henry Blanco and K-Rod struck out Kevin Youkilis on four pitches to end the game.

Starter Victor Zambrano (VEN) did a much better job than last Sunday, when he allowed four runs in one-plus innings of relief. He gave up three hits, one run and two base on balls in 3 1/3 innings. Jan Granado (W 1-0) picked up the win. Lilly (USA) induced three hits and a run in three innings. Jeremy Guthrie (L 0-1) took the loss, being responsible for seven hits, four runs and two bb in two-plus frames.

NED 000 000 000  0  6 0
PUE 100 021 01X  5 10 0

Box score

No more surprise victories for the Netherlands in Pool D of the World Baseball Classic. Puerto Rico shut out the lone remaining European team in the tournament 5-0 to clinch the number one seed. If this makes them happy, we’ll see on Saturday, when they face Team USA in round two at Dolphin Stadium, Miami. The Dutch squad takes on Venezuela.

The Netherlands, which has trailed a total of three innings in the World Baseball Classic before the start of Wednesday’s game, created a little scare for the home crowd in San Juan. With two outs Randall Simon singled to center and tried to score from first on Yurendell de Caster’s double to left-center field, but was thrown out at the plate after a prefect relay from Carlos Beltran to Mike Aviles to Geovany Soto.

Manager Rod Delmonico on the other side sent Pim Walsma to the mound for the start against Puerto Rico and he had trouble to find the strike zone in the first period. He threw eight consecutive balls to put Jesus Feliciano and Ramon Vazquez on base. Feliciano advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Beltran’s force out for the 1-0 lead. Walsma walked Carlos Delgado and Alex Rios to load the bases, before escaping further trouble with a strikeout against Ivan Rodriguez and a fly out by Soto.

However despite the one-run deficit the Netherlands couldn’t come back. Additionally Puerto Rico extended the advantage later on through a RBI triple by Rios and RBI singles by Pudge Rodriguez, Soto and Alex Cora. The Dutch only got into scoring position once more, when Bryan Engelhardt and Dirk van’t Klooster led off the eighth with back-to-back singles. But two punch outs and a ground out ended the threat.

Walsma (L 0-1) pitched two innings, allowing one hit, one run and five walks in his first 2009 WBC appearance. David Bergman (2+ IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO), Alex Smit (1IP, 1 H, 1 SO), Berry van Driel (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO) and Michiel van Kampen (2 IP, 2 H, 1 R) followed Walsma on the mound. Jonathan Sanchez (W 1-0) struck out four in four innings, giving up two hits and a base on balls. Seven relievers combined to induce just four more hits, sealing the shutout.

World Baseball Classic Schedule for Wednesday, March 11:

10.30pm CET WBC Pool D: Puerto Rico – Netherlands
(Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
Only about 24 hours after shocking the Baseball world with an amazing 2-1 victory, the Netherlands take on Puerto Rico on Wednesday evening to determine first place in Pool D. Both teams met on Monday with Puerto Rico rallying late to win 3-1. The winner will face the second seed from Pool C on Saturday, which will be decided between Team USA and Venezuela. It will be interesting to see, if the Dutch team can focus and found some sleep after such an emotional win.

Their batters will hope for hits against left-handed pitcher Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants. Additionally the rotation behind the plate Puerto Rico’s continues with Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs getting the start. The heroes of their first two victories Ivan Rodriguez and Yadier Molina likely will split time as designated hitter. Netherlands manager Rod Delmonico didn’t know yesterday evening, who will start today, jokingly suggested pitching coach Bert Blyleven as probable hurler. Berry van Driel and Pim Walsma weren’t used the past two days and could be options to start.

11.30pm CET WBC Pool C: USA – Venezuela
(Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada, ESPN America (coverage starts at 1.30am CET), MLB Network, MLB.tv)
After two off days Team USA faces a familiar foe in the Pool C finale. They face the same squad; they beat on Sunday 15-6 to advance into round two. Venezuela followed through yesterday’s 10-1 win over Italy. Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs will start for the Americans. The left-hander is familiar with the Rogers Centre in Toronto, as he pitched for the Blue Jays between 2004 and 2006. Jeremy Guthrie, the fourth starting pitcher on the roster, is scheduled to follow. Due to the off days it is more than likely that manager Davey Johnson will use most of his players on the roster to stay in shape for round two. Venezuela’s manager Luis Sojo appointed Victor Zambrano as starting pitcher. He gave up four runs on Sunday in one-plus innings of relief against Team USA.

Thursday, 3am CET WBC Pool B: Australia – Mexico
(Foro Sol Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico, ESPN America, MLB Network, MLB.tv)
A few days ago we reported in our preview series that Mexico likely is favored over Australia. This has changed since then. First the Aussies won the opener in Pool B with a stunning 17-7 score against Mexico. On Tuesday they had the Cuban team in the ropes, leading 4-3, going into the eighth inning, but lost on a pinch hit homerun by Yosbany Peraza. Mexico came back after loss, defeating South Africa 14-3, setting up tonight’s meeting. The winner is going to San Diego, the loser home.

This a short clip of yesterday’s ESPN Sport Center recap of the stunning victory by the Netherlands over the Dominican team on Tuesday in Pool D of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The 2-1 eleven-inning victory sends the Dutch team to round two, which will begin next Saturday in Miami, Florida.

Additionally some more reading material:

ESPN The Magazine’s Jerry Arangure Jr. : Netherlands’ prayers answered

NY Times’ Jack Curry: Netherlands sends Dominicans to an Improbable Exit in WBC

MLB.com’s Will Gonzalez: Dutch pull off second upset to advance

Foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal: No excuse for Dominican performance in WBC

Foxsports.com: Biggest Upset ever?

Associated Press thru Foxsports.com:  Netherlands ousts Dominican Republic from WBC

CUB 001 001 120  5 9 1
AUS 000 103 000  4 6 1

Box score

Cuba survived a major scare at the World Baseball Classic against Australia. They needed a two-run pinch hit homerun by Yosbany Peraza to overcome a 2-4 deficit en route to a 5-4 victory on day three of Pool B in Mexico City. They advance to round two, which will begin next weekend in San Diego, California. Australia faces Mexico tonight, determining the last round-two participant.

RBI singles by Frederich Cepeda and Ben Risinger in the third and fourth frame led to the lone runs by each team in the first five innings. Yoennis Cespedes second homerun of the World Baseball Classic put Cuba on top in the upper half of the sixth frame. However Australia answered with a three-run rally moments later. Justin Huber tied the score with a RBI single. James Beresford followed four batters later with a two-run single for a 4-2 advantage.

The Cubans countered right away, cutting the deficit to a run in the top of the seventh on a RBI double by Michel Enriquez. In the eighth Yulieski Gourriel led off with a single to center field, bringing the winning run to the plate. But Alfredo Despaigne flied out and Cespedes struck out. Peraza replaced Joan Carlos Pedroso and hit a 2-1 pitch of Rich Thompson (BS 1, L 0-1) over the wall in left field. Cuba held on to the 5-4 lead to win the thrilling game.

Aroldis Chapman started for Cuba, striking out seven batters in four innings. He allowed three hits, one run and a walk. Travis Blackley opposed him, giving up five hits, one run and two base on balls in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four. Ismel Jimenez (W 1-0) received the win for 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

DOM 000 000 000 01  1 7 3
NED 000 000 000 02  2 5 1

Box score

Unbelievable. The Netherlands pulled off the second upset in the 2009 World Baseball Classic against the Dominican Republic in a few days and advance besides Puerto Rico to round two. They stunningly countered a Dominican run in the eleventh inning to win by a final score of 2-1. Obviously one of the biggest victories in European Baseball history.

The Dominican Republic wanted payback for their 2-3 loss from last Saturday and put their best potential offensive lineup on the field. David Ortiz, usually a designated hitter, started at first to bring Hanley Ramirez into the game besides shortstop Jose Reyes. With Miguel Tejada at third this might not be the best defensive infield, but certainly has enough power to out-slug every team in the world.

But this was only theory, as the Dutch pitching was able to hold the Dominicans in check for ten-plus innings. In the eleventh a fielding error by right fielder Eugene Kingsale allowed Reyes, who had reached with two outs on a walk, to score all the way from first, when the flyball of Jose Bautista slipped past the diving Kingsale to the wall.

However the Netherlands didn’t give up, pulling of one of the most stunning upsets in baseball history against one of the best relievers in the game. Pinch hitter Sidney de Jong led off the bottom of the frame with a double off the left-center wall against Carlos Marmol of the Chicago Cubs. Pinch hitter Curt Smith grounded out to shortstop Reyes, advancing De Jong to third. He scored and tied the game on Kingsale’s flyball single to right field, making up for his error a few moments earlier.

Marmol tried to pick off Kingsale at first, but ironically new first baseman Willy Aybar, a usually much better defender than Ortiz, couldn’t catch the ball, which went through, allowing Kingsale to advance all the way to third base. Sharlon Schoop struck out swinging to make it two outs. Yurendell de Caster stepped to the plate, worked a full count, before hitting a sharp groundball to Aybar at first, who wasn’t able to field the ball. Kingsale scored and the Dutch celebrations begun after the impressive well-deserved victory in walk-off style. The decisive rally in a clip on MLB.com

Manager Rod Delmonico was touched in the post game press conference. Quote:

“Our guys came together as a team, and, miraculously, we won,” said Dutch manager Rod Delmonico after the victory.
.
“It was not because we are a better team than they are,” Delmonico explained, referring to the Dominicans. “They are one of the best teams in the world. Collectively, we just played hard and it happened.”
.
“Our guys were upset that they scored,” said Delmonico. “The mood in the dugout was, ‘Hey, it’s our turn.’ When they came in, everybody was up. We were ready to go to bat. It was not a mood [of] feeling sorry for themselves.”
.
Delmonico had to fight off tears during his postgame news conference when talking about his team.
“I am a blessed man to have had the opportunity to manage them,” he said of his Netherlands players.

It was certainly a long way to the win. Dominican starter Ubaldo Jimenez, blessed with a 95+ MPH fastball, dominated the first four innings at will. He overpowered the Dutch pitchers with his impressive stuff, striking out a World Baseball Classic record-setting ten of the first 13 batters. He gave up just two singles. And it didn’t get much easier in the following innings. Pedro Martinez, Tony Pena, Rafael Perez and Damaso Marte combined to throw six innings of brilliant relief, giving up just one hit and a hit by pitch. But Marmol couldn’t close it out, though their offense isn’t blameless either.

The Netherlands pitching also held the zeros for the first ten innings, setting up the exciting final period. Starter Tom Stuifbergen gave up five hits and two walks in four innings, striking out three. Alex Smit, Rob Cordemans, Dennis Neuman and Diegomar Markwell induced one more hit and four walks until the tenth. Leon Boyd (W 1-0) entered the game with two outs in the first extra inning and picked up the win.

ITA 000 000 100   1  6 1
VEN 000 450 10X  10 14 0

Box score

The dream is over for Italy at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Venezuela used two big innings on Tuesday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto to defeat the Azzurri with a 10-1 victory, advancing into round two, which will be held in Miami, Florida. They will face Team USA today to determine the first seed from Pool C. Italy has to go home.

The game started pretty well for Italy, holding a Venezuela zero on the board for the first three frames and even loading the bases in the second on Mike Costanzo’s double, Alex Liddi’s single and a hit by pitch against Francisco Cervelli. But Enrique Gonzalez (W 1-0, 4 IP, 2 H, 3 SO) stopped the rally and the Venezuelan offense came through in the fourth.

Marco Mazzieri replaced starting pitcher Adam Ottavino after three strong innings (1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) with Tiago Da Silva (L 0-1) and it went downhill from there. Miguel Cabrera reached on a double, moved to third on a Magglio Ordonez single and scored on Carlos Guillen’s double, when right fielder Mario Chiarini missed a great catch at the wall. After an intentional walk, Ramon Hernandez hit a groundball to shortstop Nick Punto, which went through, scoring Ordonez and Guillen to make it 3-0. Two batters later Endy Chavez brought home another run with a sac fly to center.

Kasey Olenberger, who had relieved Da Silva in the fourth to get the final out, ran into trouble in the fifth. Bobby Abreu and Cabrera opened the frame with back-to-back homeruns to start another rally. After Ordonez reached on a double, Olenberger was substituted by Luca Panerati. He got one out, before making place for B.J. La Mura, who promptly allowed back-to-back homeruns by Jose Lopez and Hernandez, building up the lead to 9-0. La Mura got the final two outs of the frame, but the outcome was decided.

Italy finally scored in the top of the seventh loading the bases and putting a run on the board on a bases loaded walk by Jack Santora. Cervelli scored. Venezuela also added another run in the bottom of the period on a RBI single by Chavez. Roberto Corradini, Cody Cillo and Alex Maestri closed it out for Italy. Ramon Ramirez, Frankie Rodriguez and Victor Moreno finished the job, which was begun by Gonzalez.

It was a nice second World Baseball Classic tournament for Italy. Like three years ago they go home with one victory, after beating Canada 6-2 on Monday. Venezuela had just too much offensive power in the lineup to pull off a second upset.

2009 World Baseball Classic Schedule for Tuesday, March 10:

10pm CET, WBC Pool C: Venezuela – Italy
(Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada, ESPN America, ESPN2, MLB.tv live)
Canada’s manager Ernie Witt complemented Italy in yesterday’s post game press conference and not without a reason. Led by the strong Athletics outfielder Chris Denorfia (4-4, BB, 3 2B, defensive play of the day) the second European participant in the World Baseball Classic pulled off a second upset and the 6-2 victory over the maple leafs was well-deserved. They again will face Venezuela in a rematch of Saturday’s 0-7 loss. The winner will book a ticket for round two, the loser goes home. Italy is expected to send Adam Ottavino to the mound and having used just three pitchers on Monday, their bullpen is well-rested. Venezuela counters with Enrique Gonzalez. Their pitching cannot have another off day tonight or they will go home. Against the USA on Sunday, each one of the seven pitchers gave up at least a run. Italy’s Denorfia, Giuseppe Mazzanti, Alex Liddi, Nick Punto and Frank Catalanotto proved that they are also capable to convert mistakes into hits and runs.

11.30pm CET, WBC Pool D: Netherlands – Dominican Republic
(Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico, ESPN America (coverage starts at Wed 1am CET), MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
The biggest compliment the last few days the Netherlands and manager Rod Delmonico received came following the post game press conference after Monday’s 1-3 loss against Puerto Rico. According to a blog post from Newsday reporter Jim Baumbach, the Spanish speaking press stood up and applauded Delmonico and his players. They needed just five more outs to upset another World Baseball Classic favorite and to advance to Dolphin Stadium, Miami, but the clutch hit by Yadier Molina ended these dreams for now.

But thanks to their first stunner from last Saturday, the Netherlands get another chance tonight. Despite beating the Dominicans in the opener they are still a heavy underdog, going into the rematch. Delmonico: “From what I understand, they’re supposed to beat us 9-0 tomorrow. We will come out and play hard and give our best effort. That’s all we can do.” Tom Stuifbergen gets the starting nod against a lineup featuring Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada and David Ortiz among others. It is a tough job for the right-hander from the Minnesota Twins organization, who missed most of 2008 because of an injury. It is also not getting any easier for the Dutch offense, facing Ubaldo Jimenez after Edinson Volquez and Ian Snell in games one and two. No other Major League pitcher besides Jimenez threw more pitches (1342) over 95 MPH last year.

Wednesday, 3am CET, WBC Pool B: Cuba – Australia
(Foro Sol Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico, ESPN America, MLB Network, MLB.tv live)
It was expected that Cuba would play in the winner-winner matchup of Pool B on Tuesday at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City. But their opponent Australia is a surprise, especially after a 17-7 victory over Mexico on Sunday. The homerun friendly ballpark featured four more homeruns on Monday, bringing the total to 16 for three games. This probably will not change tonight, as both teams combined for ten in their openers. Cuba set a new World Baseball Classic record with six long balls, Australia with 22 hits. The winner will advance to the second round, the loser takes on Mexico tomorrow. The two manager Jon Deeble (AUS) and Higinio Velez (CUB) haven’t confirmed this, but we should expect a pitching matchup between Travis Blackley (AUS) and Aroldis Chapman (CUB), which could be an exciting one.

MEX 102 000 344  14 16 2
SFA 101 000 100   3  7 2

Box score

Mexico crushed South Africa 14-3 on Monday in Pool B of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, sending the underdog home after two games. The hosting team at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City will face the loser of the Cuba-Australia matchup on Wednesday. But the game wasn’t that one-sided, as the final score might indicate.

Mexico started as expected and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a RBI double by San Diego Padre Adrian Gonzalez. But South Africa stunned the home crowd by tying the game in the bottom of the first, when Gift Ngoepe scored on a groundout by Jonathan Phillips. Mexico got back in front with two-run homerun by Gonzalez in the third. Again South Africa had an answer, cutting the deficit to a run in the bottom of the frame with Ngoepe’s RBI triple, his second of the game.

The score stayed close for the next three frames, before Mexico blew the game wide open with eleven runs between the seventh and ninth. Gonzalez hit another homerun to increase his RBI total to six for the day. Oscar Robles (3-6, 3 runs) and Jorge Cantu (3-5, 3 RBI) added two-run shots. Leadoff hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. scored three times. South Africa scored a third run in the bottom of the seventh on Anthony Phillips’ RBI single, but certainly had not enough fire power to go toe to toe with the Mexican offense for the complete nine innings.

Elmer Dessens (W 1-0) allowed two runs (1 ER) on three hits in six effective innings, striking out three. Justin Erasmus (L 0-1) started for South Africa and gave up five hits, three runs and a walk in three innings.

NED 010 000 000  1 5 1
PUE 000 000 03X  3 8 0

Box score

Puerto Rico needed three runs in the eighth inning to deny another major upset by the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. After the Dutch team stunned the Dominicans 3-2 on Saturday, they lost 1-3 on Monday, drawing a rematch with the star-studded lineup on Tuesday evening. If the European squad gets another surprise win over the Dominican Republic they will book a ticket for round two at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. Puerto Rico is already there with the win.

After a scoreless opening frame, the Dutch offense led off the second inning with three consecutive hits. Top prospect Gregory Halman of the Seattle Mariners doubled on a line drive through left fielder Bernie Williams and scored easily on Yurendell De Caster’s ground ball single to right field. Sharnol Adriana followed with a ground ball single through the middle to put two runners on with nobody out. Unfortunately Bryan Engelhardt hit into a double play and Kenley Jansen struck out to end the period.

The Netherlands hold on to the lead until the eighth, hoping for another stunner in the World Baseball Classic. But Puerto Rico had one rally left. Carlos Delgado and Alex Rios walked leading off the bottom of the inning against relievers Dennis Neuman (L 0-1) and Michiel Van Kampen. After a strikeout against former American League MVP Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Aviles loaded the bases with another base on balls. Leon Boyd (BS 1) came in, replacing Van Kampen.

After a called strike to start the at bat, Yadier Molina smacked the next pitch into left field for a two-run double, driving in pinch runner Andy Gonzalez and Rios. Boyd got the second out on a fly ball to right fielder Eugene Kingsale. But Jesus Feliciano added an insurance run with a RBI single to left field, bringing home Aviles from third. The frame ended when Denny Rombley threw out Molina at home, trying to score from second on Feliciano’s single.

Three outs were left in the game, but the Dutch offense couldn’t come back. Two groundouts by Randall Simon and De Caster, and a strikeout by Halman ended the match with a 1-3 loss. Rick van den Hurk (NED) started and allowed three hits and three walks in 3 1/3 solid innings, striking out two. David Bergman (2.1 IP, 1 H, HBP) and Juan Carlos Sulbaran (1.1 IP, 2 H, HBP, SO) held the Puerto Rican zero on the board. But the three walks in the eighth by Neuman and Van Kampen, two with five pitches and one on four, decided the outcome.

Ian Snell started for Puerto Rico and gave up three hits, a run and a bb in four innings, striking out five. J.C. Romero (W 1-0) picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Fernando Cabrera got the save. Romero actually is suspended for the first 50 games of the 2009 Major League season due to being tested positive on performance enhancing drugs last August.