Fernando Tatis Jr. clubbed a grand slam and Oneil Cruz also homered as the Dominican Republic sailed to a 10-1 win over Israel in World Baseball Classic Pool D play on Monday in Miami.
The Dominicans (3-0) remained on a collision course with Venezuela to decide the Pool D champion. Venezuela is also 3-0 after beating last-place Nicaragua 4-0 on Monday evening. Both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela are assured of quarterfinal berths.
One batter after Geraldo Perdomo’s bases-loaded walk to open the scoring, Tatis crushed a 1-2 pitch 400 feet to left field for his first home run of the tournament. He added a two-run single in the seventh and Erik Gonzalez tacked on an RBI triple in the ninth. Gonzalez was an injury replacement for the Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena.
Brayan Bello tossed seven strikeouts in his five-inning start. He allowed Israel’s only run on Spencer Horwitz’s solo shot, but Israel (1-2) finished with just two hits.
South Korea 7, Australia 2
Bo Gyeong Moon came a triple short of the cycle and helped South Korea qualify for the knockouts with a comfortable Pool C win over Australia in Tokyo.
South Korea tied with Australia and Taiwan for second place in the group at 2-2 but had the fewest runs allowed divided by defensive outs among the tied teams. Hyun Min Ahn hit an all-important sacrifice fly in the ninth to ensure the five-run margin necessary for the Koreans to win the tiebreaker.
Moon hit a two-run homer in the second, an RBI double in the third and an RBI single in the fifth and leads the tournament with 11 RBIs. Robbie Glendinning homered and Travis Bazzana had an RBI single for Australia.
Colombia 4, Panama 3
All four of Colombia’s runs came in the sixth inning before they fended off Panama to grab a late win in Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jordan Diaz opened the scoring with a sac fly, Reynaldo Rodriguez scored two with a single to left and Daniel Vellojin added an RBI single for Colombia (1-3). Neither the Colombians nor Panama (1-3) will advance to the knockout stage.
Jose Caballero hit a solo shot for Panama and Jose Ramos and Christian Bethancourt knocked RBI singles in the eighth, but Pedro Garcia came on for Colombia to record a four-out save.
Great Britain 8, Brazil 1
Ian Lewis Jr. homered and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had three RBIs as Great Britain avoided a winless stay at the WBC by beating Brazil in Pool B in Houston.
Chisholm and Matt Koperniak recorded a pair of hits and starter Brendan Beck threw four no-hit innings for Great Britain (1-3).
Gabriel do Carmo’s RBI double was the only hit of the day for Brazil (0-4). Neither team will advance.
Venezuela 4, Nicaragua 0
Ronald Acuna Jr. went 3-for-3 with a solo homer, an RBI single and a stolen base as Venezuela (3-0) sealed a quarterfinal berth by downing Nicaragua (0-4) in Pool D play at Miami.
Jackson Chourio opened the scoring with a first-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu added a sixth-inning sac fly. Seven pitchers combined on the shutout, beginning with two innings from Yoendrys Gomez and then three innings from Keider Montero.
Emanuel Trujillo went 3-for-4 and Benjamin Alegria added two hits for Nicaragua. Starter Danilo Bermudez yielded two runs on one hit in four innings.
Puerto Rico 4, Cuba 1
Martin Maldonado’s three-run double in the second inning sparked Puerto Rico to a victory over Cuba in San Juan, Puerto Rico, giving the hosts a 3-0 record in Pool A to clinch a quarterfinal berth.
Heliot Ramos doubled and scored on Carlos Cortes’ fifth-inning sacrifice fly for Puerto Rico. Starter Elmer Rodriguez tossed three shutout innings, and Edwin Diaz fanned the last two in a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
Cuba’s lone run, which came in the sixth inning, was unearned. Ariel Martinez came around from first to score on Alfredo Despaigne’s double thanks to a throwing error by center fielder Ramos. Cuban starter Julio Robaina permitted three runs while getting just four outs.
–Field Level Media
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