Today is the first day of six straight days with one game, which will decide the World Baseball Classic winner. Each game from here on out is an elimination game. We will post articles over the next six days whenever at least one Pittsburgh Pirates player sees action. The WBC article series will wrap up at the end of next Tuesday’s finale, with a recap of the tournament for Pirates players.
Rob Zastryzny got the start for Canada in a game that would put them into the next round if they won. He lasted two innings against Mexico, allowing three runs on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Mexico would take the game 10-3 to move on to the next round.
Duane Underwood Jr helped Puerto Rico to the next round by pitching a scoreless eighth in a 5-2 victory over the Dominican Republic. He retired all three batters he faced, one by strikeout.
David Bednar had an easy sixth inning for Team USA, retiring the side in order on eight pitches. He picked up one strikeout. He had a 1-2-3 appearance in his only other WBC game. Team USA won 3-2 over Colombia, pushing them to the next round.
Santiago Florez made his first appearance for Colombia. He allowed one run on two hits, one walk and two strikeouts.
Cuba won 4-3 over Australia on Wednesday in the first elimination game.
Venezuela won 5-1 over Israel. Venezuela went 4-0, while Israel went 1-3. Venezuela and Puerto Rico moved on to the next round from their pool, which also included Nicaragua.
The seven remaining teams include David Bednar, Duane Underwood Jr and the pair of pitchers for Italy who didn’t pitch in the first round, Alessandro Ercolani and Jeffrey Passantino. Both are on the active roster still. Japan, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela don’t have any Pirates players.
Team USA will play Venezuela Saturday night at 7 PM.
Today’s Schedule
Italy vs Japan 6 AM (eastern time)
UPDATE: Since there won’t be a WBC post here tomorrow, I’m adding this update here today. Japan won 9-3 over Italy. No Pirates played, so all that remains for our coverage is Underwood and Bednar. Articles will be posted when/if they pitch. At minimum, we will have a recap of the Pirates in the tournament at the end of it. Tomorrow’s game is Puerto Rico vs Venezuela at 7 PM.
