It was a limited slate on Tuesday, but it was an eventful one.
If you’re only here to read about the Braves, well:
- Ozzie Albies: 0-for-4, K
- Chadwick Tromp: 0-for-2, BB, K
Japan 9, Czechia 0. I remember seeing the score here yesterday and morning and wondering how Czechia kept the Samurai scoreless for seven frames. Well, Japan had a nine-run eighth, so there you go. The story here was Ondrej Satoria keeping Japan scoreless for 4 2/3, though he only had three strikeouts and thus relied on his defense a fair bit, as he worked around multiple doubles and benefited
from a tag out at home. That said, it all fell apart as three non-Satoria pitchers got torched in the eighth, the tune of two homers (including a grand slam), a walked-in run, and a bunch of other stuff. Japan’s pitchers didn’t take it easy, either, doing the usual slicing and dicing of bats; Czechia collected just two hits and a walk.
Israel 6, Netherlands 2. There’s not much they can do about this, but boy, the Netherlands team going 1-3, with the lone win coming on a miracle-esque walkoff, is probably a bummer for them. They didn’t even hit a procession of Team Israel arms after plating a couple on a defensive miscue and a sacrifice fly in the first. Israel got one of those runs back on an RBI double in the second, but the big blow came against current Rays reliever Kevin Kelly and Lars Huijer in the sixth. Single-error-single tied the game, and though a couple of outs (including a tag play at home) suggested that the came could stay a deadlock, walk-single-double gave Israel another four runs. The bottom of the ninth was really weird, as Mets prospect Ben Simon alternated walks and strikeouts, bringing the tying run up in the form of Cedanne Rafaela before putting him away on four pitches.
Ozzie Albies hit really poorly in the WBC against some not-so-great pitching, which doesn’t really mean anything, but is also not great.
Canada 3, Puerto Rico 2. Canada got a small measure of salvation after dropping a game to Panama by handing Puerto Rico their first loss of the tournament. Things didn’t look so great for them at first, as Puerto Rico went walk-walk-single to start the game, but Jose De Leon departed with the bases loaded in the third, only for current Orioles reliever Rico Garcia to walk in the tying run, and then the go-ahead run, immediately after. Canada started the fourth with an Owen Caissie double and Abraham Toro RBI single, and then handed the ball to Logan Allen and Brock Dykxhoorn for three innings apiece. Puerto Rico scratched one run across on Allen, but that was it, as Allen and Dykxhoorn danced out of trouble when needed for the rest of the game.
Canada and Cuba are now both 2-1, while Puerto Rico is 3-1, and play at 3 pm ET today.
Italy 8, USA 6. Ahahahaha. Hahahaha. Ahahahahahahahaha. Team “Qualify for Us by Eating at Olive Garden” defeated Team “Our Manager Thinks We Clinched the Knockout Round Already” in a hilarious upset that hopefully, for the sake of the future, encourages players, their employers, MLB, the algorithm that simulates our reality, and Mike Trout to actually have the WBC reflect the best roster possible for all teams. Because, well…
…Nolan McLean gave up two homers in the second, first to Kyle Teel (current White Sock), and then to Sam Antonacci (White Sock prospect). There was a hit batter sandwiched in between them, so Italy was up 3-0 after two. The lead went to 5-0 when Ryan Yarbrough relieved McLean to start the fourth, immediately walked Teel, and gave up another bomb, this time to Jac Caglianone.
Meanwhile, Team USA did nothing against Michael Lorenzen and the Italian defense (4 2/3 IP, 2/1 K/BB ratio, two hits). Italy then tacked on three more thanks to a throwing error by new pitcher Brad Keller that scored a run, set up a sac fly, and was followed by a wild pitch that scored the final Italian run.
Now down 8-0, Team USA kinda went to work, plating runs against five of the six non-Lorenzen pitchers Italy deployed in the game. Gunnar Henderson homered, then Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a three-run homer the next inning, and Roman Anthony poked a two-out soft single to score another run in the eighth. Crow-Armstrong homered again in the ninth, forcing Italy to switch to Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert to close out the game. Bobby Witt Jr. roped one up the middle to bring the tying run to the plate, but Weissert put both Henderson and Aaron Judge away with changeups to close out the upset.
The fate of Pool B now rests entirely on an Italy-Mexico matchup. If Mexico wins, there will be a three-way tie by record, and the arcane tiebreakers will take effect, which could possibly send Team USA home. Which, y’know, would be even funnier than the outcome of this game.
Pool play wraps up on Wednesday. All three games matter: Canada-Cuba, Mexico-Italy, and Venezuela-D.R., though the latter will really only settle seeding (and, well, bragging rights).
