World Baseball Classic scores, results: USA melts down, Israel keeps rolling

The United States is in danger of not advancing to the second round

By R.J. Anderson

Mar 12, 2017 at 11:22 am ET • 3 min read

Saturday, or Day 6 of the World Baseball Classic, primarily featured Pool C and D play, but also saw the first action of the second round as Pool E got underway. So far, four teams have advanced to the second round: Israel, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Japan. We should see a few teams join them soon.

Here’s a recap of what happened on Saturday before Sunday’s action begins.

Colombia 4, Canada 1

The story of the game was Colombia’s pitching. Atlanta Braves ace Julio Teheran threw five innings of one-run ball, allowing just three baserunners along the way. Teheran was then followed up by Yohan Pino and Dayan Diaz, who combined for four shutout innings themselves.

Offensively, Colombia was led by the Solano brothers. Donovan Solano, playing shortstop, delivered two hits and drove in two runs. Jhonatan Solano, getting the start at designated hitter, also notched two hits, and drove in a run of his own.

The win moved Colombia to 1-1, while the loss dropped Canada to 0-2.

Venezuela 11, Italy 10 (10 innings)

This was one crazy game. Italy pounced on Martin Perez, racing out to a 5-0 lead through four innings. Yet Venezuela struck back, plating eight runs over the ensuing three innings. By the time the ninth rolled around, both squads were tied at eight.

Salvador Perez put Venezuela back up with a two-run home-run. But a blown save by Francisco Rodriguez was capped by an RBI single on Gavin Cecchini’s part. Unfortunately, Cecchini’s single saw Drew Butera thrown out at home plate -- noteworthy since Butera collided with Perez, his Kansas City Royals teammate, who then left the game with a knee injury. (You can read more about Perez here.) Rodriguez, by the way, also left the game injured.

Extra innings belonged to Venezuela, as they went ahead again on a Martin Prado double. Jose Castillo, a 21-year-old southpaw whose claim to fame is his inclusion in the Wil Myers trade, then shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning.

The result left both teams with a 1-1 record.

Dominican Republic 7, United States 5

Another wild affair -- and one that you can read more about here. Team USA received good pitching from Marcus Stroman and seemed well-positioned with Andrew Miller on the mound and a two-run lead on the board in the eighth. Alas, the Dominican Republic wasn’t having any of it, with both Nelson Cruz and Starling Marte homering off Miller to give the DR a two-run lead:

The United States went quietly in the ninth inning, and as a result now have a 1-1 record heading into their game on Sunday versus Canada. The Dominican Republic, meanwhile, is now 2-0 with a game against Colombia to go.

Puerto Rico 9, Mexico 4

The final score doesn’t suggest it, but this was a one-run game heading into the final frame. In fact, Puerto Rico had a runner on (Francisco Lindor, who also homered twice) and two outs and we seemed destined for a thrilling finish -- especially when Carlos Beltran hit a pop-up in foul territory. Instead, this happened:

Puerto Rico then put together a rally that included a three-run home-run by Javier Baez. Mexico tried making things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, placing two runners aboard to welcome Edwin Diaz to the game. But a strikeout and timely double play ended any comeback hopes.

Puerto Rico moved to 2-0, while Mexico is at a lowly 0-2.

Israel 4, Cuba 1

Team Israel just won’t lose. Cuba held a 1-0 advantage through three innings, but Israel did all the scoring the rest of the way. Ryan Lavarnway plated Ike Davis with a double in the fourth, then Zach Borenstein and Blake Gailen added on in the sixth with an RBI single and RBI double. Gailen later notched another RBI with everyone’s favorite play -- the squeeze:

Jason Marquis gave Israel another fine showing: 5 2/3 innings, four hits, a run, a walk, and four strikeouts. Josh Zeid later locked the game down with a four-out save.