Czech Republic 000 000 010 1 4 0 Mexico 200 000 00X 2 4 0
It was a great game by the Czech Republic, but in the end they are empty handed and need to beat Germany to remain alive in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier. On Thursday evening the Czech squad lost 1-2 against host Mexico in Mexicali, which didn’t fulfill the high expectations. They now take on Nicaragua on Friday evening.
The game started as expected with Mexico quickly taking a 2-0 lead in the first, shortly after baseball legend Fernando Valenzuela had thrown the first pitch. Esteban Quiroz and Adrian Gonzalez scored through RBIs by Jesus Castillo and Agustin Murillo. But afterwards Czech defense and pitching took over. Marek Cervenka settled in after the first and after the third handed the ball to Jan Novak and Alex Sogard, who kept Mexico off the board.
Meanwhile Mexico’s pitching was cruising with starter Alejandro Soto striking out seven in the first three innings. The Czechs got a couple of hits and Matej Hejma made things interesting in the eighth with a solo shot. However Oliver Perez came in in the ninth to close it out.