Australia 000 010 110 3 13 1 Cuba 000 040 00X 4 10 0
A single scoring frame was enough for Cuba to edge out Australia at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. On Friday afternoon they beat the team from Down Under 4-3 after scoring four runs on a grand slam by Alfredo Despaigne in the fifth. They are joining Japan, the Netherlands and Israel to play in the second round at the Tokyo Dome. Australia finishes in third place in the first-round pool in Tokyo.
Logan Wade even got Australia a short-lived 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth when he drove in Mitchell Dening with a single. But Alfredo Despaigne cleared the bases with a grand slam in the bottom half of the frame. A solo shot by Trent Oeltjen in the seventh and a RBI single by Dening in the eighth brought Australia within a single run. But in the ninth they went down in order and had to except the elimination.