Australia blank China 11-0 to stay alive in World Baseball Classic

By Norman Carr Mar 10, 2017

Australian catcher Allan de San Miguel hits a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning during the World Baseball Classic against Japan.

Baker went 4 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering three hits and striking out three, in the 15-7 win vs Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Tuesday.

A solo home run in the seventh innings to Sho Nakata gave Japan the lead for the first time and an eighth inning two-run homer to Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh sealed the victory for the home side.

At worst, they'll get to play a tie-breaking fourth game against another 2-1 team in their pool with the victor advancing.

Until this year, Israel had never played in the World Baseball Classic. It is a task made infinitely more hard by the ambivalence of many top American stars, including Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw, all of whom declined to join Team USA.

Wei-Chung Wang didn't make an appearance for Chinese Taipei despite the blowout.

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Seung-hwan Oh closed the door with a 1-2-3 inning to end the game. Israel will win the pool with a win over the Netherlands tomorrow.

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Toshiya Okada, who relieved Sugano in the fifth, found himself in a one-out bases-loaded jam after throwing a wild pitch and giving up a walk, but pitched out of it as James Beresford grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

"It's a ideal start", Israel Association of Baseball President Peter Kurz tells ISRAEL21c over a Skype call from Seoul today, March 8.

Netherlands missed out on a first-inning score when Profar was cut down at home after Balentien flew out to Sam Fuld in center, whose throw was relayed by Burcham and Freiman.

One of these is Jason Marquis, who would take the mound for Israel's debut, against South Korea in their home country. The third is left fielder Blake Gailen, who played in independent ball in 2016 after spending most of 2015 with the Angels' Double-A team. During the qualifiers, we knew we were good and going out with confidence is so much part of the game. And Israel mostly got by on bloops and singles; of their 20 hits, just five were for extra bases - two doubles, one triple, and two homers.

Former Mariner Norichika Aoki scored the first run for Samurai Japan.

If China is able to win versus Australia and Japan along with a Japanese defeat of Cuba, China would be in play for the second seed. Bovada sportsbook has Israel listed at 200-to-1 odds to win the WBC - the longest shot in the tournament's history and 100 times as unlikely as 2-to-1 favorite Team USA.