The 2017 World Baseball Classic is upon us. The tournament began early Monday with Game 1 of Pool A at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. (Pool B will be played at Tokyo Dome, Pool C will be played at Marlins Park in Miami, and Pool D will be played at Estadio Charros de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico.) Israel knocked off South Korea in an extra-innings upset.
Here’s how you can watch the tournament’s second game:
How to watch:
Teams: Israel vs. Chinese Taipei
Date: Monday, March 6
Time: 10:00 pm ET
Television: MLB Network
Streaming: MLB.tv
Israel and South Korea are in a pool with Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands. South Korea finished second in the 2009 WBC and third in the 2006 WBC. They failed to make it out of the first round in 2013. Israel qualified for the tournament for the first time by winning their qualifying pool in September.
Chinese Taipei has three players, all pitchers, who are employed by MLB teams: Ping-Hsueh Chen and Shao-Ching Chiang of the Indians, and Wei-Chung Wang of the Brewers. Longtime big-league pitcher Chien-Ming Wang is also on the roster.
Israel’s roster includes several big leaguers and former big leaguers. Craig Breslow, Ike Davis, Scott Feldman, Sam Fuld, Ryan Lavarnway and Jason Marquis are among those on the roster.
Odds:
Here are the betting lines on the game, via SportsBook.ag:
Israel: +105
Chinese Taipei: -125
Prediction:
Everyone loves a good Cinderella story -- especially during a March tournament. As such, we’ll pick Israel to pull off its second surprise win in 24 hours.
Here is the full 2017 WBC schedule as well as the full rosters. The championship game will be played March 22 at Dodger Stadium.
