What a great tournament for European Baseball. The Netherlands and Italy however need two more upsets tonight, for round two of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Additionally the homerun happy lineup of Cuba will battle with Australia to determine the first round-two participant from Pool B.
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.