Japan advances to semis with Cuba win
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 20, 2009 00:00
SAN DIEGO - Defending champion Japan claimed the last remaining World Baseball Classic semifinals spot with a 5-0 win over Cuba, while Venezuela finished top of its second round group with a 10-6 win over the United States on Wednesday.
Japan scored two unearned runs with two outs in the fourth inning on a foggy night at Petco Park when Cuban center fielder Yoennis Cespedes committed a two-base error on Michihiro Ogasawara's high fly ball.
Even though it was hit into heavy fog and Cespedes had a long run, he seemed to see the ball and had it in his glove before it popped out, glanced off his cap and rolled to the wall.
Japan joins South Korea, Venezuela and the United States in the semifinals.
Wednesday's loss was the first time since 1951 that the Cubans failed to reach the finals of a major international competition. They had made the finals 40 straight times in the IBAF World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, the Olympics and the WBC.
"It meant a lot," Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara said. "It was a big deal for us. It will be left in history. I have great respect for Cuba."
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-5 to raise his WBC average to .214. He tripled in the ninth and scored on Aoki's single.
Hisashi Iwakuma and Toshiya Sugiuchi combined to five-hit the Cubans.
Cuban manager Higinio Velez skipped the postgame news conference but issued a statement.
"I would like to congratulate the Japanese team for their great victory tonight. They were much better than us, and that's why they deserved the victory. They do deserve to go on to the finals. So the only thing left for us to do is to continue to fight for our great game, baseball."
Japan beat Cuba for the second time in four days.
Earlier, U.S. first baseman Adam Dunn made a wild throw that led to four unearned runs as Venezuela beat the Americans to top Group 2 in their final group game. Max Ramirez had a three-run homer for Venezuela, which finished with 15 hits.
The Americans fell behind when Venezuela scored six runs in the second inning with the help of Dunn's error.
Cabrera finished with three hits and two RBIs. Three pitchers shut out the Americans after they cut the margin to 7-6 in the sixth inning.
"This team is doing a lot of small things to win games," Venezuela manager Luis Sojo said. "There is a different star every single day."
Rain delayed the start for more than an hour and fell during much of the game but the conditions did little to quiet the crowd of 16,575, with Venezuela fans again chanting, pounding drums and booing Magglio Ordonez. Many Venezuelans dislike the left fielder because he supports the country's president, Hugo Chavez.
Ordonez turned the jeers to cheers when he singled during the second-inning rally. He finished 1-for-4, hiking his average in the tournament to .167 (4-for-24).
Guthrie lasted only 1 2-3 innings and gave up seven hits, including three doubles. He left trailing 6-1, but only two of the runs were earned.
Even though it was hit into heavy fog and Cespedes had a long run, he seemed to see the ball and had it in his glove before it popped out, glanced off his cap and rolled to the wall.
Japan joins South Korea, Venezuela and the United States in the semifinals.
Wednesday's loss was the first time since 1951 that the Cubans failed to reach the finals of a major international competition. They had made the finals 40 straight times in the IBAF World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, the Olympics and the WBC.
"It meant a lot," Japanese manager Tatsunori Hara said. "It was a big deal for us. It will be left in history. I have great respect for Cuba."
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored. Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-5 to raise his WBC average to .214. He tripled in the ninth and scored on Aoki's single.
Hisashi Iwakuma and Toshiya Sugiuchi combined to five-hit the Cubans.
Cuban manager Higinio Velez skipped the postgame news conference but issued a statement.
"I would like to congratulate the Japanese team for their great victory tonight. They were much better than us, and that's why they deserved the victory. They do deserve to go on to the finals. So the only thing left for us to do is to continue to fight for our great game, baseball."
Japan beat Cuba for the second time in four days.
Earlier, U.S. first baseman Adam Dunn made a wild throw that led to four unearned runs as Venezuela beat the Americans to top Group 2 in their final group game. Max Ramirez had a three-run homer for Venezuela, which finished with 15 hits.
The Americans fell behind when Venezuela scored six runs in the second inning with the help of Dunn's error.
Cabrera finished with three hits and two RBIs. Three pitchers shut out the Americans after they cut the margin to 7-6 in the sixth inning.
"This team is doing a lot of small things to win games," Venezuela manager Luis Sojo said. "There is a different star every single day."
Rain delayed the start for more than an hour and fell during much of the game but the conditions did little to quiet the crowd of 16,575, with Venezuela fans again chanting, pounding drums and booing Magglio Ordonez. Many Venezuelans dislike the left fielder because he supports the country's president, Hugo Chavez.
Ordonez turned the jeers to cheers when he singled during the second-inning rally. He finished 1-for-4, hiking his average in the tournament to .167 (4-for-24).
Guthrie lasted only 1 2-3 innings and gave up seven hits, including three doubles. He left trailing 6-1, but only two of the runs were earned.