Saturday was as busy as we get in the World Baseball Classic, with four of the five games including players from the Pirates. The big game was Team USA against the Dominican Republic, which had four Pirates on the rosters, including the entire starting outfield. Three of the Pirates ended up staying on the bench the entire game, but there were a couple big days from the ones who played.
Team USA had a 5-0 lead over the Dominican Republic in the sixth inning, but ended up losing 7-5. Starling Marte was the only Pirate in the starting lineup, playing center field and batting eighth. He missed the opening game with ankle swelling, though you couldn’t tell that in this game. He went 3-for-4 with a single, double and a solo home run in the 8th inning (shown below). Team USA won 3-2 on Friday night over Colombia. Gregory Polanco, Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison didn’t play.
☄️☄️☄️ @Starlingmart with some insurance for the Dominican Republic! #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/oqPoAjZ7dG
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 12, 2017
Francisco Cervelli went 3-for-6 with two runs and an RBI in a wild 11-10 loss for Team Italy against Venezuela. Cervelli doubled in the first inning, then scored the first run of the game two batters later on a double. He would single in the third inning, then score two batters later on a single. In the seventh inning he singled in a run to bring his team within one run. Cervelli had a double and a walk in the opening game on Thursday.
Eric Wood went 1-for-4 with a single in Team Canada’s loss to Colombia. He went 1-for-4 in Thursday’s opening game against the Dominican Republic.
Team Israel defeated Cuba by a 4-1 score. Jared Lakind didn’t pitch.
Upcoming Schedule
Three games of note on Sunday. All will be shown live on MLB Network.
Dominican Republic vs Colombia 12:30 PM
Italy vs Puerto Rico 3:30 PM
USA vs Canada 7:00 PM
