Venezuela 9 - 6 Puerto Rico
Venezuela started fast but hard to find off a bit of a scare late to see off a hot Puerto Rico team. They got the job done in the end though to take control of the group of death.
There were two howitzers for Venezuela and they were Salvador Pérez and Anthony Santander. Both homered. Perez drove in five and Perez three with a hot David Peralta adding one of his own to his already impressive haul from the Dominican Republic game. Pablo Lopez gave 4.2 innings of solid one run ball in the win.
Jose Berrios was roughed up in this one. Boricua relievers added two more to the score. The hitters mounted an impressive comeback that did fall short but added important momentum to take into their next game. 2021 NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario drove in two.
Venezuela gets a rest and then plays Nicaragua. They look to be in the driver's seat now. Puerto Rico gets Israel who is fresh off a comeback against Nicaragua.
Mexico 11 - 5 USA
The legend of Joey Meneses grows in Phoenix with an impressive performance en route to routing the defending champs. For Team USA, a bad loss that puts their title defense in jeopardy.
Meneses pounded two homers, drove in five runs and scored three times in the win. Randy Arozarena cashed in two more and also scored three. Former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez also pushed in two runs. Patrick Sandoval got the win with three solid innings followed up by Javier Assad going three more scoreless. The US got four runs thereafter but the damage was done.
Nick Martinez struggled to capture his form from the Tokyo Olympics and took the loss. Brady Singer and Daniel Bard were also roughed up spectacularly leading to questions around whether the USA has the pitching to defend the crown. Tim Anderson did push in three runs and Will Smith homered.
Mexico gets the British next after a day off. The Americans will try to get back on track against Canada. Pool C is now officially wide open.
Australia 8 - 3 Czech Republic
They've done it! Australia are off to the knockout stages of the World Baseball Classic. They've seen off the Czechs to go 3-1 and ensure Korea cannot catch them.
Alex Hall homered for the second time in Pool play, driving in four runs. Logan Wade cashed in two more to finish pool play with five driven in. Jack O'Loughlin put up his second solid start of pool play and the bullpen did enough to ensure victory as the offense came alive.
For the Czechs, Martin Schneider flashed the form he showed in his heroic effort against Spain to even get the Czechs here. He gave 5.1 one run frames to give the Czechs a shot at an upset. Alas, the bullpen was unable to follow it up. Marek Chlup did cash in two on the offensive side to finish pool play strong. Eric Sogard also drove in his first in a Czech uniform.
The Aussies will play Cuba for a chance to reach the last four for the first ever time. The Czechs bow out at 1-3 and finish fourth in Pool B. They do (under current format) secure a spot in the 2026 WBC so mission accomplished. They have also won the respect of the baseball world as a whole.
Korea 22 - 2 China
China was the whipping boy of Pool B and Korea underscored it in this game, winning by mercy rule in five innings.
Korea were dominant from the outset in spite of sitting some key players including Tommy Edman. Four players drove in at least three runs and Korean pitching held strong against Chinese bats. Ha-Seong Kim hit a grand slam too.
Chinese pitching was atrocious from the start and there was simply no refuge. Mercifully, the mercy rule ended the game after five innings. Jie Cao did drive in two runs to finish pool play with three and arguably being China's MVP in the WBC.
It was too little too late for Korea. They failed to get the job done against Australia and got embarrassed by the Japanese. They bow out in round one for the third straight WBC to stinging critical media coverage at home. China went 0-4 to finish last in Pool B and will have to qualify for the 2026 WBC.
Dominican Republic 6 - 1 Nicaragua
A nice bounce back win for the pre-tournament favorites but not yet the dominant form we would expect. Nevertheless, the DR are back on track in the group of death.
Cristian Javier gave four shutout innings to earn the win and the bullpen held strong from there. Juan Soto had four hits and scored three runs. He homered and so did Manny Machado. The Dominicans were never in trouble in this game.
Nicaragua were again mostly respectable on the mound but J.C. Ramirez struggled again to take the loss. Elian Miranda drove in another run but little else happened offensively. Dwight Hebbert had a great day on the mound though. He struck out the side (Soto, J-Rod, Devers) in the ninth and was immediately signed post-game by a scout in attendance.
DR gets Israel next in another must-win and then Puerto Rico in a rivalry match. Nicaragua falls to 0-3 and are now out. They will wrap up their maiden WBC campaign against Venezuela.
Great Britain 7 - 5 Colombia
Big comedown for Colombia after stunning Mexico. For GB, history is in the books with a maiden win that throws Pool C wide open.
Taiwan Series champ with the CTBC Brothers Tyler Viza was shaky but the British bullpen was rock solid this time to get the win. Two Blue Jays prospects led the way offensively with Chavez Young and Jaden Rudd each driving in two runs. Harry Ford also homered.
Colombia struggled badly on the mound and in spite of solid offense it cost them in the end. A Dilson Herrera pinch hit homer gave them hope but it was not enough. Dayan Frias added two ribbies of his own.
Team GB get Mexico to wrap up their first WBC campaign unless they win and tiebreaker scenarios work for them. Colombia will try to get back on track against Canada.
Puerto Rico 10 - 0 Israel
This is the first combined perfect game in WBC history and only the second no-hitter in WBC history. Puerto Rico were dominant from the start and cruised to their second win.
They tagged Colton Gordon early with the big blow being a Javy Baez two run double. Francisco Lindor added three ribbies and Enrique Hernandez drove in two more. Puerto Rico pitching was literally perfect and Jose De Leon struck out ten through his 5.2 innings of work.
Team Israel could get nothing going today as offense continues to be an issue. There wasn't much on the mound today either with Gordon getting roughed up and shaky performances thereafter save for Daniel Federman who was tidy in his inning of work.
Puerto Rico are now 2-1 and get eternal rival Dominican Republic after an off day to savor this result. Israel also get DR but right away. Talk about going from frying pan to fire. Oh, and it is a must-win most likely to have any shot of making it out of the group of death.
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