Team USA staves off elimination from WBC
Baseball looked more like America's national pastime Sunday night.
Team USA avoided elimination from the World Baseball Classic, beating the Netherlands 9-3 in Miami to ease the sting of a drubbing endured against Puerto Rico the night before.
Jimmy Rollins drove in 4 runs with a homer, triple and sacrifice fly, and Team USA newcomer Brian Roberts went 3-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 runs and 2 RBI. Roy Oswalt pitched 4 scoreless innings, then six relievers completed a 12-hitter.
"We didn't want to go home quite yet," manager Davey Johnson said.
Even with a 6-run lead in the eighth, the Americans remained combative. Matt Lindstrom gave up a leadoff homer to Bryan Engelhardt, who took a long look at his prodigious drive before jogging around the bases. Lindstrom's next pitch sailed behind Vince Rooi, and the pitcher conceded he was trying to send a message after Engelhardt's homer.
"Classless," Dutch manager Rod Delmonico said.
When Lindstrom barely missed hitting Rooi, Dutch players took several steps onto the field as they yelled angrily at the pitcher. The shouting was in English, said Netherlands catcher Sidney de Jong.
Only 11,059 were on hand to witness the Americans' turnaround. Still 1 loss from elimination, the United States will play Tuesday night against the loser of tonight's game between Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Left-hander Ted Lilly is slated to pitch for the Americans. If they win, they'll advance to the semifinals next weekend in Los Angeles.
The Dutch were eliminated. Despite a roster sprinkled with minor-league prospects, they became the surprise team of the tournament.
Japan 6, Cuba 0: Pitching in Petco Park in San Diego, the same ballpark where he led Japan to the inaugural WBC title three years ago, Boston Red Sox ace Daisuke Matsuzaka was brilliant in silencing Cuba's previously undefeated big boppers, leading Japan to a 6-0 win in the second round. Matsuzaka improved to 5-0 in 5 WBC starts by holding Cuba to 5 singles in six innings while striking out eight and walking none.
The right-hander with the slow-motion windup has 2 wins in this edition of the WBC and was the MVP in 2006, when he went 3-0.