World Baseball Classic Day 4: Japan, Australia take huge step towards quarterfinals. First loss for Netherlands
Japan and Australia remain undefeated after Day 4, and are close to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals out of Group B.
In Group A, Chinese Taipei gave the Netherlands their first loss. Both teams are one win away from the quarterfinals, but the group could end in a four-way tie.
World Baseball Classic Day 4 results
Panama-Italy 2-0 BOX SCORE Chinese Taipei-Netherlands 9-5 BOX SCORE Australia-China 12-2 BOX SCORE Czechia-Japan 10-2 BOX SCORE Colombia-Mexico PLAY BY PLAY Great Britain-USA PLAY BY PLAY Nicaragua-Puerto Rico PLAY BY PLAY Dominican Republic-Venezuela PLAY BY PLAY
GROUP A
A grand slam by Yu Chang lifted World No. 2 Chinese Taipei over No. 7 Netherlands, 9-5.
The Netherlands took an early lead against starter Tzu-Peng Huang, but Chinese Taipei reversed it in the bottom of the seventh. The Cleveland Guardians second baseman Yu Chang got to the fourth pitch by starter Lars Huijer, a 93-mile-per-hour fastball, and turned it into an epic grand slam that made the over 18,000 fans of Taichung's Intercontinental Stadium explode.
"The fans lived and died with every pitch," commented Matt Monagan for the MLB website, effectively picturing the role of the Taichung crowd.
Chinese Taipei didn't need to look back. Che-Yuan Wu followed Huang on the mound and posted 4.1 solid innings.
"He had a perfect mix of three pitches, and our guys couldn't figure him out. He did an outstanding job," commented Dutch manager Hensley Meulens."We did well but needed to play better to win."
After the Dutch got to former major leaguer C.C. Lee in the top of the eighth, Chia-Hao Sung worked a four-out save to end the game.
Chinese Taipei will face Cuba, while the Netherlands will play Italy. A win would promote both to the quarterfinals.
Four pitchers combined a five-hitter, striking out six as World No. 12 Panama beat No. 16 Italy, 2-0.
Panama scored the go-ahead run in the second as Jose Ramos homered off starter Michele Vassallotti on a 3-0 count.
Allen Cordoba added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as he got to reliever Sam Gaviglio with an RBI double.
Harold Arauz pitched four solid innings for the win. Relievers Humberto Mejia, Alberto Baldonado and Javy Guerra completed the shutout.
"This team can field, pitch and hit also," said Panama's manager Luis Ortiz after the game. "Let me say that when you face good pitching, hitting is hard. It's hard to scratch a couple of runs off the board. They also made some good plays, but we scored, and I'm very pleased with the effort."
Italy played some great defense.
The Azzurri had runners at the corner and no one out in the bottom of the ninth.
"Last night, we made some mistakes on the mound. Today we played some great defence," commented manager Mike Piazza. "We just couldn't get that breakthrough hit. It's frustrating because I've been there with the guys; I was sorry when they couldn't get that pitch. If you come seven times in scoring position and don't score, you're not going to win, and I don't care who you are playing. That said, I told the guys not to worry about scenarios and runs. Just go out tomorrow and try to win the day."
Panama finished group play with a 2-2 record and has a big chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Italy will play the last game against arch-rival Netherlands on Sunday, 12 March.
GROUP A STANDINGS: Chinese Taipei, Netherlands (2 wins-1 loss); Panama (2-2); Italy, Cuba (1-2)
GROUP B
World No. 1 Japan used a couple of rallys in the third and fourth innings to outscore Czechia, 10-2.
WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup alum Rori Sasaki impressed in his 3.2 innings of work, striking out eight.
Sasaki credited Czech hitters: "They hit my fastball easily. It was a dangerous lineup."
A defensive error helped Czechia score the first run of the game in the top of the first, but Samurai Japan took control of the game with a couple of rallies. They got to WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup star Ondrej Satoria, scoring three on doubles by Kensuke Kondoh and Masataka Yoshida. They added four runs on reliever Lukas Hlouch in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Kondoh and Shohei Ohtani.
Hiroya Miyagi, another U-18 Baseball World Cup alum, pitched the final five innings and earned an unusual 15-out save.
Japan and Czechia will finish group play against Australia, Japan on Sunday, 12 March, and Czechia on Monday, 13 March.
World No. 10 Australia outhit, 12-5, and outscored, 12-2, China in seven innings to earn a second win in as many games.
Australia didn't waste time to get on the board, scoring three in the bottom of the first against starter Xin Qi. Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Robbie Glendinning went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth.
WBSC Premier12 stars Aaron Whitefield and Darryl George also had a two-hit game.
Kyle Glogosky, the first of four Aussie pitchers, went 2.2 innings for the win.
Australia will face Japan on Sunday, 12 March, while China will finish group play against Korea on Monday, 13 March.
"I'm just enjoying today's win and not thinking about tomorrow," commented Australia's manager David Nilsson. "We know Japan's value, they are the best team in the world but will be ready to play. My plan is to beat them."
GROUP B STANDINGS: Japan (3 wins-0 losses); Australia (2-0); Czechia (1-1); Korea (0-2); China (0-3).