Apologies for the delay, it has been a hectic few days for me with the WBC, and prepping to fly back home. Here is the recap of the last few days.
USA 12 - 1 Canada
A rough go for Team Canada from the get-go. This loss puts Canada in a precarious position to qualify for the knockout stages and improves the position for Team USA.
The Americans feasted early, pouring across twelve runs in three innings including nine in the very first inning. Mike Trout and Trea Turner both homered in the win and four players drove in multiple runs. On the pitching side, Lance Lynn dominated through five innings and the bullpen saw off the remaining two innings en route to a stoppage win after seven innings.
For Canada, Mich Bratt had a really rough night, giving up six runs in 0.1 innings before being pulled. R.J. Freure gave up six more. The US would not score again but the damage was more than done as they coasted to victory.
Team USA rights the ship after losing to Mexico and gets Colombia in a win and in game to close out the group. Canada must now beat Mexico to advance.
Venezuela 4 - 1 Nicaragua
Venezuela continues to romp through the group of death. Nicaragua put up a nice fight but it was not enough to avert defeat and throw the group wide open.
Eduardo Rodriguez was shaky through two innings and conceded the only run to Nicaragua. The bullpen popped off seven scoreless for the victory. Offensively, Eugenio Suarez drove in two and Anthony Santander one more as did Andres Gimenez. Ronald Acuña stole a base.
Nicaragua again struggled offensively, with Stephen Layton driving in their only run, but pitching was pretty respectable again. Eramso Ramirez gave them three scoreless and Nicaragua did have a short lived lead in this game.
Venezuela can now win the group of death going a perfect 4-0 with a win over Israel. Nicaragua are out, having gone 0-4 but they do bow out with some fairly competitive and creditable performances. They did not embarrass themselves one bit.
Dominican Republic 10 - 0 Israel
The Dominicans set up a win or go home against Puerto Rico by beating and eliminating Israel by mercy rule in seven innings. For Israel, it is a second straight mercy rule, and second straight shutout loss.
The DR got a run early thanks to some iffy outfield defense but the game was still a close 3-0 affair until the Dominicans popped off seven runs in the final two frames to walk it off in seven. Manny Machado homered, and waved in the direction of the Dominican fans where yours truly was sitting. J-Rod and Jean Segura drove in two each with every starter save Gary Snachez logging at least one hit.
Team Israel again struggled badly at the plate, logging a single hit. The key highlight for them was the performance of 19 year old Jacob Steinmetz, who struck out the likes of Manny Machado and Jeremy Peña and is blazing a trail as the first known practicing Orthodox Jew to be drafted by an MLB team. He did take the loss but won the hearts of the Jews around the world. The wider baseball world also took notice of the kid.
The Dominicans now go into a win or go home tilt with Puerto Rico. Team Israel will go home in round one but are assured a place in the 2026 WBC under the new current WBC rules. They will play Venezuela to wrap up their their campaign.
Canada 5 - 0 Colombia
Team Canada logged win number two with a shutout win over Colombia, the first of that kind in Canadian WBC history.
Noah Skirrow could not have possibly been better over his five innings and the bullpen was borderline flawless over the other four. Offensively, Quebec City native Edouard Julien was 3 for 4 and stole a base. Blue Jays prospect Otto Lopez drove in three runs and scored two and also went 3 for 4.
For Colombia, Oscar Mercado was 2 for 3 but little else of note was achieved by the Colombian offense. The bullpen also imploded in the late innings, forestalling any ideas of a comeback.
Canada are now 2-1 and have a win or go home tilt with Mexico. Already, this far exceeds every WBC for Canada since 2006 and erases the bitter taste of the disastrous 2017 campaign. Colombia are now in serious danger of finishing last in spite of their early upset of Mexico.
Mexico 2 - 1 Great Britain
It was far closer than anyone could have expected, but Mexico now has a real shot at winning the group thanks to this win. Team GB are out but can still avoid last place if Colombia lose to the US.
For Mexico, Alexis Wilson had the decisive two RBI singles. Joey Meneses also had two hits. Mexican pitching was stout though and Taijuan Walker was electric through four innings, punching out eight.
Team GB had their best pitched game of the tournament after a couple of heavy losses. Unfortunately, the bats were also more muted than in their other games. The bullpen hung tough with Mexico to keep it close and Chavez Young stole his fifth base to average 1.25 per game. The Jays prospect has set a new WBC record for steals in pool play.
Mexico now just needs a win over Canada to advance in spite of their early loss to Colombia. Team GB are out after going 1-3 but a loss by Colombia against the US could see the Brits avoid last place, and therefore assure them a spot in the 2026 WBC.
Venezuela 5 - 1 Israel
Venezuela erased a long history of underachieving at the WBC by going perfect through the group of death. They look like they can win the whole thing now.
Jesus Luzardo was impressive and showed why he was such a highly touted prospect. Eduardo Escobar and Eugenio Suarez homered and Salvy scored a run to cap off an MVP performance in Pool D. Ronald Acuña also stole a base.
Robert Stock struggled early but the Team Israel bullpen was far better than in the previous two games. Offense was again poor but Jakob Goldfarb did drive in a run and Noah Mendlinger was 3 for 4 and scored the first Israeli run in three games.
Venezuela is a prohibitive favorite now. They look extremely dangerous going into the knockout stages. They have the star studded roster to beat literally anybody. Team Israel finish 1-3 and are out, unable to replicate the form of 2017, but the win over Nicaragua assures them a spot at the 2026 WBC.
Mexico 10 - 3 Canada
Mexico erased the frustrations of 2013 and 2017 with a win over Canada to advance as group winners. Canada go out in round one again but leave with a much more respectable line this time around.
It was the Randy Arozarena show. He drove in five to finish pool play with nine driven in. Rowdy Tellez (former Jay) homered and drove in three. Joey Meneses had multiple hits yet again and Jose Urqidy was solid enough to get the win.
Rob Zastryzny struggled through two frames and the bullpen would cough up seven more runs in addition to his three. Edouard Julien closed off his WBC with a 2 for 4 performance and a .538 average. Bo Naylor homered and Tyler O'Neill finished up hitting .615.
Mexico won a group that they were not expected to and survived an early upset by Colombia. They get Puerto Rico in the quarter final round. Canada are out but after a disastrous campaign in 2017, going 2-2 and having the younger pieces look so good gives us hope for the future and leaves a good taste in our mouths. Hopefully, more of our MLB guys join in 2026.
Puerto Rico 5 - 2 Dominican Republic
Loan Depot Park did its best imitation of a madhouse as a giant fell early. We knew one would fall in round one but never expected it to be the DR.
Puerto Rico chose to make this a bullpen game and it worked, keeping Dominican hitters off balance for much of the night. Meanwhile, Cristian Vasquez, Francisco Lindor and company worked on Johnny Cueto and eventually knocked him out in the third inning. PR got one more in the fifth but with just that four run outburst in the third, they had enough to win.
A Juan Soto homer was as good as it got for the Dominicans. Cueto fell apart in the third and the offense never truly solved the Yady Molina strategy of never letting them see the same pitcher twice. Eventually, it got to Edwin Diaz and you know the rest.
Puerto Rico are one step further in trying to reach a third consecutive final. They get Mexico next. DR is the chief victim of the group of death. The Dominican Dream Team is out in round one having gone 2-2. A shock early exit to say the least.
USA 3 - 2 Colombia
The USA averted the risk of disaster with a nervy 3-2 win over Colombia. The defending champs are moving on to the last eight.
It began with an early lead followed by a 2-1 deficit. The Americans then snatched the lead back in the fifth and never conceded another run. Of course, the hero was Captain America, Mike Trout, who drove in all three runs for Team USA. On the pitching side, a shaky start for Merrill Kelly gave way to six scoreless innings by the American pen.
For Colombia, Gio Urshela and Reynaldo Rodriguez drove in their runs. A rough fifth inning by Ruben Galindo ultimately decided things on the pitching side.
Team USA gets Venezuela that just romped through the group of death. The title defense gets much tougher now. Colombia finish last at 1-3 in spite of an upset win over Mexico and will have to qualify for WBC 2026.
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