World Baseball Classic, WBC
ESPN Sport, 12 March, 2013
Dominican Republic 4 Puerto Rico 2
Dominican Republic Rallies Past Puerto Rico
Robinson Cano had three hits, including a solo home run, to lead the Dominican Republic past Puerto Rico
Robinson Cano homered and the undefeated Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 4-2 on Sunday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to win their first-round group in the World Baseball Classic.
The New York Yankees slugger had three hits to help the Dominicans finish 3-0 in Group C. Next, they move on to the second round in Miami, where they will play Group D runner-up Italy on Tuesday.
"We want to get off on the right foot and win the first game," third baseman Hanley Ramirez said.
Puerto Rico took a 2-1 lead on Mike Aviles' two-run homer in the fourth inning, but Cano tied it with a solo shot in the fifth.
Alejandro De Aza doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth and Nelson Cruz added an RBI groundout in the seventh. Fernando Rodney pitched a hitless ninth for his second save.
Puerto Rico finished second in the group with a 2-1 record and advanced to face the United States, which won Group D, on Tuesday night in Miami.
Dominican Republic 5 Italy 4
Dominican Republic Rallies Past Italy
Nelson Cruz's single to center the difference in Dominican Republic's 5-4 win over Italy, advancing to the winner's-bracket game Thursday.
MIAMI -- Robinson Cano pumped his fist. Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez danced together near home plate. Fernando Rodney pointed to the sky after the final out.
The Dominican Republic is unbeaten and having fun in the World Baseball Classic.
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Robinson Cano and the Dominican Republic withstood some disagreements over baseball etiquette en route to an emotional win at the WBC, Jerry Crasnick writes.
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Nelson Cruz's two-out, RBI single broke a seventh-inning tie, and the Dominicans overcame an early four-run deficit Tuesday to beat Italy 5-4.
Cano had three hits, including his second home run in the WBC. He led a comeback that had his teammates laughing and celebrating every hit in front of their dugout.
"That's something you never see in the big leagues," Cano said. "Here we get a chance to come out and give high-fives to the guys. We can jump around. Nobody sees you trying to show somebody up. It's more about the chemistry on the team. We're all excited to be here, and we've all got a mission to win."
Italy hitting coach Mike Piazza said his team noted the Dominicans' demeanor.
"Some enhanced theatrics," Piazza said. "It's not what we're used to, but hey, you have to go to with it and have fun. It's unorthodox for me. Obviously in a 162-game season you're not going to be seeing that, so you have to just let it roll off your back."
The Dominicans (4-0) advanced to a winner's-bracket game Thursday night in the double-elimination second round.
Cano's homer off the upper-deck facade in right field made the score 4-2 in the sixth. Reyes also homered, and celebrated with Ramirez after crossing the plate.
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"This team has a lot of emotion," manager Tony Pena said. "They kept talking in the dugout -- 'We're going to come back and win the game.'"
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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
The Dominican Republic celebrates after rallying to take the lead over Italy in Tuesday's second-round game at the World Baseball Classic.
Chris Colabello hit a three-run homer, his second, to give Italy a 4-0 lead in the first inning
The Dominicans trailed 4-2 in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with one out on consecutive singles by Reyes, Erick Aybar and Cano off Pat Venditte (0-1).
Edwin Encarnacion walked to force in a run, and Ramirez tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
Cruz followed with a broken-bat, two-out single to give the Dominicans their first lead. Cruz has six RBIs in four games, while Cano hiked his average to .632 (12 for 19) with six RBIs.
"My interest is to win," Cano said. "We're having a really good time."
The New York Yankees second baseman was annoyed in the seventh when Italy's Nick Punto slid hard into second base on an inning-ending forceout.
"I was upset," Cano said. "I don't care if you slide on a double play, but when it's a forceout, the last thing you want to do is get hurt."
The crowd of 14,482 was festive for the opening game in Miami, with horn-honking and chanting by Dominican fans who created a steady din. The retractable roof, closed for all but eight Marlins games last year, was open on an 80-degree afternoon.
Pedro Strop (2-0) threw a scoreless seventh. Rodney, who has yet to allow a hit in four appearances, reached 98 mph on the radar gun when he pitched a hitless ninth for his third save.
Five relievers limited Italy to one hit and no runs over the final 4 2-3 innings.
"You're facing some hard throwers in that bullpen," Colabello said. "They're got pretty good stuff."
Early wildness plagued Dominican starter Edinson Volquez, who threw only one of his first 13 pitches for a strike as he walked the bases loaded. Alex Liddi's sacrifice fly made it 1-0, and Colabello followed with a homer.
"Four runs was one too few," Colabello said. "I don't think any lead is comfortable, especially in this format."
Volquez allowed four runs in 4 1-3 innings.
"Our pitching after the first inning did a great job," Pena said.
Tiago Da Silva went 5 1-3 innings for Italy and allowed two runs, both on homers. The Italians play in a losers'-bracket game Wednesday.
"They're obviously an All-Star caliber team," Piazza said. "Obviously we are disappointed. We have to just try and inch back tomorrow and hopefully pick up a `W' and keep going."
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press
Canada-Mexico Brawl Breaks Out In WBC
A brawl erupted in the ninth inning of Canada and Mexico's World Baseball Classic matchup after Canada's Rene Tosoni was hit by a pitch from Mexico's Arnold Leon.
Canada 7 Mexico 3
PHOENIX -- A little bunt single turned this WBC matchup into a World Boxing Classic.
Alfredo Aceves and several players threw nasty punches when a fierce, full-scale brawl broke out in the ninth inning Saturday of Canada's 10-3 romp over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, a melee that also involved fans and set off skirmishes in the seats.
AP Photo/Matt York
Canada's Tyson Gillies, right, puts Mexico's Alfredo Aceves on the ground during a ninth-inning brawl. The fisticuffs resulted in seven ejections.
"Whoever says that we're just here as an extra spring training game or we're just here to say we represented our country and then go home obviously didn't see how intense that game was and what it means to everybody that was involved," Canadian slugger Justin Morneau said.
Multiple fights erupted after Canada's Rene Tosoni was hit in the back by a pitch from Arnold Leon with the score 9-3 at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It quickly turned into a wild scene, as chaotic as any on a major league field in recent years.
Even when the fisticuffs ended, Canadian pitching coach Denis Boucher was hit in the face by a full water bottle thrown from the crowd.
Canada shortstop Cale Iorg angrily threw the bottle back into the crowd.
Several police officers came onto the field trying to restore order, and there were a few skirmishes in the decidedly pro-Mexico crowd of 19,581. Seven players were ejected after umpires huddled, trying to sort out the frenzy.
Caple: Too Much To Surrender
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Canada needed to win and Mexico couldn't afford to lose as their pressure-packed WBC game boiled over into an on-field fight, writes Jim Caple.
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Canadian first base coach Larry Walker, a former NL MVP, said he held back Mexico star Adrian Gonzalez during the altercation. The solidly built Walker also tried to restrain Aceves.
"I had a hold of him and I thought I saw Satan in his eyes," Walker said.
Despite the ugly incident, World Baseball Classic, Inc., the event's governing body, issued a statement condeming the fight while failing to discipline any players or the teams.
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"Because at least one club -- and potentially both -- will not advance to the second round, WBCI has determined that disciplinary measures would not have a meaningful corrective impact," the statement read. "Thus, discipline will not be imposed beyond today's seven game ejections."
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There had already been several borderline plays on the bases when things got out of hand. A bunt hit by Chris Robinson heightened the tension -- a WBC tiebreaker relies heavily on runs and the Canadians wanted to score again in the ninth. Third baseman Luis Cruz fielded Robinson's bunt and seemed to tell Leon to hit the next batter.
Managers from both teams blamed the tiebreaking rule that uses run differential to determine what team moves on to the next round.
"It was just simply a misunderstanding," Mexico manager Rick Renteria said. "In a normal setting, a normal professional setting I should say, a 9-3 bunt in that particular fashion would be kind of out of the ordinary."
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"Because at least one club -- and potentially both -- will not advance to the second round, WBCI has determined that disciplinary measures would not have a meaningful corrective impact. Thus, discipline will not be imposed beyond today's seven game ejections. ” -- World Baseball Classic, Inc.
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Right as the game resumed, someone in the crowd hurled a baseball that almost hit Canada first base coach Larry Walker in the head.
"That's when I went out to the umpire and I said, 'Another thing comes out, we're going to pull our team off the field,' " Canadian manager Ernie Whitt said.
The collision of WBC rules and the unwritten rules of the game led to the blowup, Renteria said.
"I think in just in the heat of the moment you lose sight of it," he said, "and maybe that's how it occurred."
Whitt said WBC officials need to look at the tiebreaking rule.
"There's got to be another method other than the scoring runs, running up the score on the opposing team," he said. "No one likes that. That's not the way baseball's supposed to be played. There's professionalism that we're all accustomed to here in North America. And unfortunately teams are knocked out of the tournament because other teams run up the score on them. Unfortunately that's what you have to deal with when you have that type of format."
Morneau, Adrian Gonzalez and Joey Votto were among the big-name, high-priced stars playing in the game. The fight was exactly the kind of thing that must have made major league managers and general managers cringe at the thought of one of their players getting hurt in such a fracas.
"There's a point you got to stand up for yourself," said Morneau, a former MVP with the Minnesota Twins. "We got hit for playing the game, and that happens, but at the same time you got to stand up for yourself. You can't just get pushed around.
"Obviously, everyone wishes it didn't happen, but it happens in the game sometimes. I think we have all learned from being in the minor leagues that, especially in low-A ball, high-A ball, those things get real crazy. There's not as much security. It starts to get out of control pretty bad, and I think you learn from that, you learn to keep your head on a swivel."
Aceves was among four Mexican players thrown out -- the angry Boston reliever was tossed to the ground by Philadelphia minor league outfielder Tyson Gillies during the height of the altercation, then rushed to rejoin the fray.
"I did see it on video. I saw it afterward. I saw the altercation, yes," Red Sox manager John Farrell said after Saturday night's exhibition game against Baltimore in Fort Myers, Fla. "I think we all hope our players don't get injured when they go off to a tournament, especially in that type of melee."
As for Aceves, "It looks like he came out of it OK, with the exception of a couple of welts on his head," Farrell said. "We had a message from their trainer that he came out of it OK despite taking a couple of left hooks to the head."
Also ejected were Leon, Oliver Perez and Eduardo Arredondo of Mexico and Tosoni, Pete Orr and Jay Johnson of Canada. A statement from organizers said tape of the incident would be reviewed for possible disciplinary action.
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There's got to be another method other than the scoring runs, running up the score on the opposing team. No one likes that. That's not the way baseball's supposed to be played. There's professionalism that we're all accustomed to here in North America. And unfortunately teams are knocked out of the tournament because other teams run up the score on them.
” -- Canada manager Ernie Whitt, referring to the tiebreaker rule for advancing in the WBC
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All in all, it was far from the worldwide goodwill that is supposed to accompany this competition, where players exchange team hats with opponents before the start of each game as a sign of sportsmanship.
A day earlier on the same field, Mexico posted an emotional 5-2 over the United States in a game without incident. Canada, meanwhile, absorbed an embarrassing 14-4 loss to Italy.
Mexico finished its Pool D play at 1-2. Canada is 1-1 going into a game Sunday against the United States.
Whitt said he hoped any decision on suspensions would take into account that Mexico has finished its pool play, while Canada has a big game remaining.
Canada scored four times in the first inning, and Mexico cut the lead to 4-3 with two runs in the fourth.
Karim Garcia, Edgar Gonzalez and pinch hitter Sebastian Valle started the inning with singles. Garcia tried to score from second on Valle's single and was thrown out from center field by Gillies.
Robinson, the catcher, held on to the ball in a collision with Garcia down the third-base line. Garcia never did touch the plate.
Gil Velazquez followed with an RBI double and Arrendondo's sacrifice fly cut Canada's lead to one.
Robinson's hard slide into second broke up a potential double play and allowed a run to score in a two-run seventh inning that put the Canadians ahead 7-3.
Morneau, who had four hits and drove in three runs, doubled in a run, then Michael Saunders walked and Robinson was hit in the foot by a pitch. With one out, pinch hitter Jimmy Van Ostrand grounded to second.
But Robinson took the legs out from Velazquez at shortstop to prevent the relay throw and a run scored.
"We want to play the game hard. We want to play it properly. You get an opportunity to help a team, help your teammates, by breaking up a double play or something, that's something we do," Robinson said.
All that led up to the ninth, with Mexico trailing badly and facing possible elimination despite the big win over the United States.
Robinson bunted because Canada wanted to widen the margin.
Two pitches came close to Tosoni and the next one hit him in the back. He dropped the bat and walked toward the mound.
When the players all rushed onto the field. Some just shoved, other threw wild haymakers. And just when it seemed things would calm down, more skirmishes ensued.
When the bottle was thrown from behind the Canadian dugout, one Canada player had to be restrained from going into the stands.
No player seemed to be hurt.
"I know the bodies kept moving everywhere but there was a lot more people holding people back than there was real action going on," Renteria said, "as is always the case."
As for his team, Whitt said, "You can't hurt Canadians."
Japan 16, Netherlands 4
Two-time defending champion Japan hit a record-tying six home runs, scoring in all seven innings to rout the Netherlands 16-4 and reach the WBC semifinals in Tokyo.
Japan built a 12-0 lead by the sixth inning, when the Netherlands closed on Wladimir Balentine's three-run double and Andruw Jones' RBI single.
Hayato Sakamoto's grand slam in the seventh made it 16-4 and tied the team record of six homers, set by Cuba against South Africa in 2009. The game was called under the 10-run mercy rule when the Netherlands failed to close the gap in the bottom half.
"We've achieved our first goal of advancing to the final round," Japan manager Koji Yamamoto said. "The hitters swung the bats today, and getting some early runs was a huge boost for us."
Japan outhit the Dutch 17-6. The Netherlands plays Cuba on Tuesday, with the winners joining Japan in the semifinals at San Francisco on March 17 or 18.
Venezuela 11, Spain 6
Miguel Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval hit consecutive home runs for Venezuela in an 11-6 victory over Spain that came too late to matter at the WBC.
Venezuela, which finished 1-2 in Group C, was eliminated from the competition Saturday night with a 6-3 loss to Puerto Rico. So the win over Spain (0-3) was of little consolation to the South American team that was loaded with major league All-Stars and had been considered a top contender.
Venezuela had more hits Sunday (16) than in its first two games combined. Cabrera went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and scored three runs. Omar Infante also had three hits and Elvis Andrus knocked in two runs.
Cabrera and Sandoval connected in the eighth inning.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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WBC-Dominican Republic= The Champions
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