Netherlands pitcher Loek Van Mil, a giant on the mount at 7-1,throws a pitch against the Dominican Republic in the recent World Baseball Classic semifinal in San Francisco.

The one aspect of the recently concluded World Baseball Classic that I can’t quite get over is the image of The Netherlands as a world-class baseball-playing nation. Do all of the pitchers have windmill windups? Are all of the players related to Bert Blyleven?

It’s a brave new world is what we are learning. We hear it all of the time in other contexts about how the jet plane, the Internet and other modernizing developments have changed the world, shrunk the world, made it more accessible to everyone wherever they live (as long as they have money, of course), but we keep witnessing it on the sports front, as well.

The 1992 United States Olympic basketball team was known as the Dream Team and at the time, a mere 21 years ago, everyone oohed and ahhed over the collection of talent representing one country. What few realized at the time was the addition of pros to the Olympics would lead to other nations working hard to catch up and seek to surpass the U.S. Americans have stayed one step away of challengers in world competition, but the gap continues to shrink and there are so many foreign players in the NBA now from so many different countries that one of the guys in suits on the bench should be a United Nations translator.

Same for hockey and the National Hockey League. I would hate to be an agate clerk in a newspaper sports department these days trying to make sure all of the names are spelled correctly in the summaries.

Baseball has essentially gotten used to this over the decades with the continuous influx of players representing Latin American nations and Asian countries, especially Japan, but also South Korea and Taiwan. If you can play, you can play, and the scouts will find you and pay top dollar for talent wherever you reside.

I’ve just been a little slow on the uptake when it comes to Holland, previously appreciated on a worldwide sporting scale mostly because of its speedskaters. But the Dutch pretty much own European baseball, with 20 continental titles in the last 32 years. Most impressively, The Netherlands beat Cuba in 2011 for the Baseball World Cup crown.

Blyleven was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago and was the pitching coach with The Netherlands’ national team in the WBC, but without research I can’t think of another baseball player of prominence from Holland. The manager was Hensley Muelens, a San Francisco Giants coach. Oh, and as a bonus, The Netherlands also had their pick of players from Curacao. In terms of advantage, that’s not too different than saying players from the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa were eligible for the American team in terms of advantage.

Yet The Netherlands did well in the WBC last time around (topping this year’s champs the Dominican Republic twice) and came close to reaching the finals this time. As one curiosity in terms of (Hey, let’s see what this guy looks like) the Dutch suited up a 7-foot-1, 260-pound pitcher named Loek Van Mil. Yes, the guy is bigger than Randy Johnson.

This is not to say that baseball is going to eclipse speedskating as a national mania in Holland and become the No. 1 sport in the land, but it should tell us to expect more major leaguers from The Netherlands down the road. Before a nation becomes a world championship victor it usually produces some great players who can make their mark at the very highest level of the game. That would still be Major League baseball and one day we should wake up to a 50-homer man, or a 20-game winner, bursting onto the scene from Holland.

Mar 19, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Dominican Republic pitcher Fernando Rodney (56) and catcher Carlos Santana (41) celebrate after defeating Puerto Rico to win the World Baseball Classic championship at AT

The Dominican Republic once again showed their dominance in the 2013 World Baseball Classic by defeating Puerto Rico in the Championship Game to claim their first title. They became the only team in the short history of the Classic to sweep through the Classic undefeated.

Championship – San Francisco, California

Puerto Rico 0, Dominican Republic 3

Box Score

Sam Deduno was fantastic on Tuesday night in San Francisco as he led the Dominican Republic to the WBC title. Deduno tossed five shutout innings allowing just two hits in a game that looked like it might be shortened by rain.

Rain started falling early on and kept up for around an hour. But with it being the last game of the Classic, officials were eager to get it in. Fortunately, it never got bad enough to force a delay and it eventually cleared up.

The Dominican won again with great pitching and timely hitting and it all started with the  young Deduno on the mound.

Deduno has only six wins in the big leagues, but he looked like a six-time All-Star on Tuesday night. In his five innings, he struck out five batters and some came in big moments.

In the top of the fifth inning, Deduno walked a pair of batters and with two outs faced one of the top hitters for Puerto Rico, Angel Pagan. This was one of the only times Puerto Rico threatened, but Deduno came up big. On a 2-2 pitch, he got Pagan to chase a breaking ball in the dirt for strike three.

A couple of batters earlier with a runner at second, Andy Gonzalez drove a ball to deep center field. In a full sprint and arm outstretched, Alejandro De Aza made a great running catch to save a run and keep Puerto Rico off the scoreboard.

After the big strikeout, Deduno showed his emotion raising his arms in the air and screaming. Pagan didn’t seem to take that too well as he was jawing at the Dominican pitcher as he walked back to the dugout.

The would be the end of the night for Deduno as he turned it over to a bullpen that was simply remarkable all through the Classic. Pedro Strop, Octavio Dotel, Santiago Casilla, Kevin Herrera, and Fernando Rodney had combined for 24 scoreless innings heading into the final game.

Dotel came on and gave up a hit and a walk in an inning of work. That would be the last hit Puerto Rico would get. Strop, Casilla, and Rodney would come in and dominate. Each pitched an inning of work with both Strop and Rodney, who earned the save, striking out a pair in their inning.

Giancarlo Alvarado got the start for Puerto Rico and he wasn’t as sharp as his counterpart. Alvarado lasted just an inning giving up two runs on on two hits to take the loss.

Jose Reyes led off the game for the Dominican with a double. After a sacrifice bunt by Erick Aybar, Alvarado intentionally walked the hottest hitter in the Classic, Robinson Cano. So with two on and one out, up came Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, and it didn’t take him long to make them pay.

Alvarado fell behind and then Encarnacion unloaded on a fastball doubling into the right-center field gap. The ball got over center fielder Pagan’s head and all the way to the wall as Reyes and Cano came around to score on the play.

The Dominican would get an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. De Aza reached on a bunt single and moved to second base on a Reyes ground out. Next up was Erick Aybar who had the big hit against Team USA, and he came through once again. After working the count a bit and fouling off a few pitches, Aybar hooked an outside pitch just past first baseman Carlos Rivera into the right field corner for a RBI double.

A three run lead for the Dominican bullpen was as good as gold the way they have been pitching. And that is exactly how it played out as Rodney struck out Luis Figueroa to end the game setting off the celebration.

Robinson Cano was named MVP of the 2013 Classic finishing the tournament hitting .469 (15 for 32). He hit four doubles, two home runs, scored six runs, and drove in six more. His 15 hits are a new Classic record.

March 17, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Puerto Rico starting pitcher Mario Santiago (53) delivers a pitch during the first inning of the World Baseball Classic semifinal against the Japan at AT

Behind starting pitcher Mario Santiago, Puerto Rico stunned two-time defending champion Japan on Sunday night in San Francisco. The Puerto Rico pitching staff simply shut down the vaunted Japan lineup limiting it to only six hits in the loss.

Semifinals – San Francisco, California

Puerto Rico 3, Japan 1

Box Score

Santiago pitched in the Korean Baseball Organization for the SK Wyverns and didn’t particularly have a great outing his first go around in the WBC losing to the USA. But Sunday night was different. He tossed 4.1 scoreless innings giving up only two hits.

Santiago did what he had to do, keep the ball on the ground. He got 13 outs in the game and eight of them were on ground balls.

Japan’s starting pitcher almost matched Santiago pitch for pitch. Kenta Maeda, who had been lights out so far in the WBC, gave up an early run and then settled into his normal shutout form.

It was the walks that got Maeda early on. In the top of the first he walked two straight hitters which came back to haunt him. With two outs Puerto Rico’s leading RBI man, Mike Aviles, came through once again. This time it was on a single to center field to drive in Irving Falu from second base to give them a 1-0 lead. It was the first run Maeda had given up in the Classic.

The game was pretty uneventful until the bottom of the fifth when Japan started to make a little noise. With a runner at first, Yoshio Itoi hit a grounder just out of the reach of first baseman Carlos Rivera. It looked like it might squeak through the infield for a basehit, but Falu made a great diving stop and an even better throw to a moving Rivera to get the runner by half a step.

After the play, Santiago would leave the game with tightness in his right forearm. Jose De La Torre came on in relief and would up striking out two batters to get out of the jam.

With the game still 1-0 in the top of the seventh, Mike Aviles singled to get the inning started. Alex Rios, who had struggled a bit, uncorked a long home run to left field making it 3-0. Japan reliever Atsushi Nomi left a change up up in the zone, and Rios crushed it. It was only the second home run for Puerto Rico in the Classic.

Japan tried to make waves in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Takashi Toritani tripled to deep center field and was driven home on a Hirokazu Ibata single. Seiichi Uchikawa was next up and he followed suit with a single of his own.

Then something happened that doesn’t happen too often. Japan made a huge mistake.

Down 3-1 with two runners on and the reigning Central League MVP at bat in Shinnosuke Abe, Uchikawa made a base running mistake. Someone missed a sign and on the 0-1 pitch, Uchikawa ran but Ibata didn’t. So Puerto Rico wound up getting an easy out on the basepaths.

Abe would wind up grounding out to second to end the inning, but that mistake on the base paths seemed to take the wind out of Japan.

After a walk in the bottom of the ninth, Fernando Cabrera came on to get the last two outs of the game to earn the save.

With the win Puerto Rico advances for the first time to the Championship Game of the WBC against the winner of the Netherlands/Dominican Republic game on Monday night.

Mar 16, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Dominican Republic player Carlos Santana (right) , pitcher Fernando Rodney (center) and infielder Robinson Cano (top) celebrate their 2-0 win over Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico faced off to see who would get the #1 seed out of Pool 2 heading into the Championship Round in San Francisco. With a blast from Carlos Santana and six shutout innings by Wandy Rodriguez, the Dominican Republic shut down Puerto Rico to win the pool.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Puerto Rico 0, Dominican Republic 2

Box Score

The Pittsburgh Pirates Wandy Rodriguez was superb on Saturday night. Rodriguez tossed six shutout innings allowing only two hits. In six innings, he faced only two batters over the minimum to pick up the win.

In the first two innings Rodriguez walked the lead off hitter, but then immediately erased the runners by getting the next batter to ground into a double play.

The only time Puerto Rico really threatened was in the third inning. Carlos Rivera led off the inning with a single. After Irving Falu pinch-ran, he stole second base and moved to third on a throwing error by catcher Carlos Santana. Rodriguez then got Andy Gonzalez looking on a backdoor breaking ball for a called third strike.

Then the play of the game that kept Puerto Rico off the scoreboard. With a drawn in infield, Jesus Feliciano hit a ground ball to shortstop Erick Aybar‘s right. Aybar made a great play ranging a few steps to his right. Then, while on the move, he made a nice one hop throw to the plate to nail Falu for the second out of the inning.

Orlando Roman pitched well for Puerto Rico, but wound up on the short end of things taking the loss. He pitched five innings giving up just one run on two hits. One of the hits came in the fifth inning. Leading off the inning, Carlos Santana hit a bomb to right field on a 2-2 breaking ball.

All in all, there wasn’t much offense in the game. Both teams combined for only nine hits.

The Dominican Republic picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Erick Aybar and Robinson Cano singled setting up runners at the corners. Miguel Tejada was unable to drive in the run popping out to the shortstop. Next up came Francisco Pena. With Cano running on the pitch, Pena found the hold vacated by the second baseman and drove in the run from third.

Fernando Rodney came in to pitch the ninth picking up the save.

The win sets up the Championship Round match ups. On Sunday night Puerto Rico (#2 seed from Pool 2) will face off with two-time defending champion Japan (#1 seed from Pool 1). Monday will feature the Netherlands (#2 seed from Pool 1) against the Dominican Republic (#1 seed from Pool 2).

Mar 15, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Puerto Rico starting pitcher Nelson Figueroa (27) throws in the first inning against Unites States during the World Baseball Classic at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Puerto Rico stunned Team USA behind a great start by Nelson Figueroa to advance to the Championship Round in San Francisco. In addition, the win eliminated Team USA and gives Puerto Rico a chance to face the Dominican Republic to earn the #1 seed from Pool 2.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Puerto Rico 4, USA 3

Box Score

Team USA was stymied by a 38-year old journeyman pitcher who has posted a 20-35 record over nine years in the big leagues. But Figueroa pitched his heart on on Friday night tossing six shutout innings allowing just two hits.

Figueroa has pitched well this WBC. So far he has pitched 10 innings allowing just two runs for an ERA of 1.80. Over those 10 innings he has given up just seven hits winning both starts. And on Friday night he had the backing of the Puerto Rico offense.

By the time Figueroa left the game, he had a 4-0 lead.

It all started in the first inning. Angel Pagan led off the game with a single. After a couple of outs, Pagan moved to third on a Yadiar Molina single to right field. Up next was the RBI leader for Puerto Rico, Mike Aviles, who came through again. This time it was with a single to right field to drive in Pagan.

Figueroa’s counterpart Ryan Vogelsang pitched well too. Vogelsang tossed 5.2 innings giving up just two runs on four hits to take the loss. He left in the fifth inning with two outs and a man on first.

In to relieve Vogelsang was the Cleveland Indians Vinnie Pestano, who didn’t have a great night. Pestano came in to give up two hits and two walks without ever getting an out. The big blow came after he walked Carlos Rivera with the bases loaded to make the score 2-0. The very next batter, Andy Gonzalez, doubled into the left field corner scoring two runners to make it 4-0.

The USA tried to battle back late in the game. They got a run off of Giovanni Soto in the seventh innings. Joe Mauer tripled with one out and was driven home by a Giancarlo Stanton single putting the USA on the board.

Ryan Braun brought the USA a run closer in the bottom of the eighth with a double down into the left field corner scoring Jimmy Rollins from second. A pitching change and a couple of batters later, Ben Zobrist walked with the bases loaded to bring in the third USA run.

J.C. Romero shut the USA down the rest of the way. He came on in relief in the eighth to get Eric Hosmer to ground out with the bases loaded. Then he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning striking out two to pick up the save and send Puerto Rico into the next round.

Up next for Puerto Rico is the Dominican Republic. The two teams will face each other Saturday night to determine the seeding heading into the Championship Round.

Mar 14, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Dominican Republic pinch hitter Erick Aybar (2) reacts after connects for the game winning RBI single in the ninth inning against the Unites States during the World Baseball Classic at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the most anticipated game of the 2013 World Baseball Classic became an instant classic on Thursday night. Erick Aybar came through with a pinch-hit, go-ahead single in the ninth inning off the most dominant closer in 2012 to help the Dominican Republic get past the USA 3-1.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Dominican Republic 3, USA 1

Box Score

Both teams featured dominant pitching for most of the game. R.A. Dickey got the start for Team USA and was much better this time out. He tossed five innings allowing just a single run on five hits. He had the knuckleball working striking out four batters.

However, he was matched pitch for pitch by Sam Deduno who pitched four innings striking out seven while allowing just one run. He kept the US bats quiet by coming through with big strikeouts when he needed it.

The only run Dickey gave up was in the second inning when Hanley Ramirez took him deep hitting a solo home run to left field. Dickey looked like the reigning Cy Young winner even picking off Alejandro De Aza on first base.

The USA struck first when Deduno lost his control for a bit. After three singles loaded the bases, Eric Hosmer took a four pitch walk to bring in the only USA run.

The Dominican bullpen was dominant. It pitched five innings allowing only one hit and no walks.

It was the American bullpen that broke first. USA manager Joe Torre sent in closer Craig Kimbrel with the score tied in the top of the ninth. The Dominican Republic had the 6-7-8 hitters coming up to bat.

Kimbrel, who was the first pitcher to ever strikeout more than half of the batters he faced, gave up a lead off double to Nelson Cruz. Cruz sent a rocket into the right-center field gap for a double. USA right fielder Giancarlo Stanton made a great play diving to stop the ball and fired the ball into second just behind a sliding Cruz.

Carlos Santana followed up Cruz and bounced a ball to second base for the first out. However, on the play Cruz was moving and was able to make it to third base easily. Dominican skipper Tony Pena sent up Erick Aybar to pinch hit for Ricardo Nanita.

After taking a horrible called second strike on a low and away slider, Erick Aybar came through ripping a single over the drawn in infield into right field to score the go ahead run. The single sent the entire dugout into a state of celebration, along with every Dominican fan in attendance. But they weren’t threw.

Erick Aybar took off for second base during the next batter stealing the base easily. He was driven home by Jose Reyes and the score was 3-1 in favor of the Dominicans.

Fernando Rodney was called on to finish off the game and that is exactly what he did. The Dominican closer came in and had a 1-2-3 innings to pick up the save. Pedro Strop picked up the win pitching the eighth inning, while Kimbrel took the loss for Team USA.

Joe Mauer was the hitting star for Team USA picking up a pair of singles to raise his WBC average to .444.

Aybar got the big hit for the Domincan, but Nelson Cruz picked up a pair of doubles to help them to the win.

The USA now faces Puerto Rico on Friday night in an elimination game. The winner of that game will advance to the Championship Round with the Dominican Republic which has already booked its ticket.

David Wright might have played his last game for Team USA. He was pulled before the game with the Dominican Republic on Thursday with a rib injury. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

David Wright, dubbed ‘Captain America’ by many because of his heroics in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, is likely out for the remainder of the tournament.

He sat out during the USA loss to the Dominican Republic on Thursday night. He was scratched from the lineup just before the start of the game due to a rib injury.

The medical staffs of the New York Mets and Team USA jointly decided to hold out Wright from the game, and he may not be back. Wright could play with the injury, but there is no reason to push him before the start of the MLB season. However, his bat will be missed in the Team USA lineup.

Wright is leading the Classic in RBI with 10 and was hitting .438 (7 for 16).  He will be replaced by Willie Bloomquist who will take over at third base. Manager Joe Torre doesn’t expect to have Wright back in the lineup.

Under the WBC rules, Wright cannot be replaced unless the US makes the Championship Round. Roster moves can only be made mid-round if a catcher gets hurt or for a family emergency. However, if they do win their next game against Puerto Rico he can be replaced for the games in San Francisco.

Wright was not happy to be pulled from the lineup, but he did say that he knew the first priority was being healthy for the Mets Opening Day game.

Top prospect Jurickson Profar will join the Netherlands for the Championship Round of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

After teetering back and forth about playing in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Jurickson Profar will finally take to the field for Team Netherlands.

Profar was offered a spot on the team in February but decided to decline the offer to focus on trying to make the Opening Day roster of the Texas Rangers. Committing to the Dutch team meant that he would miss up to three weeks of spring training with the big league club. In turn that could risk him landing a spot on the roster.

He will replace the injured Yurendell de Caster on the Dutch roster as they make a trip to San Francisco to appear in the semifinals of the WBC.

The switch-hitting infielder is 8-for-36 (.222) with seven walks and ten strikeouts in Cactus League play so far this spring. He is widely considered the top prospect in baseball but is looking to break into an infield that consists of Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, and Adrian Beltre.

The Netherlands play their next game against the winner of Pool 2 on Monday March 18 at 9 pm EST.

Mar 13, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Italy first baseman Anthony Rizzo (44) hits a 3 run double against Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Italy was eliminated from the 2013 World Baseball Classic on Wednesday night in Miami after a late inning comeback from Puerto Rico. The win keeps Puerto Rico’s hopes alive to reach the Championship Round in San Francisco if they can win one more game.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Italy 3, Puerto Rico 4

Box Score

The game started off as a pitching duel between both starters. Alex Maestri of Italy pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless ball giving up just three hits. But after 68 pitches he was pulled in the fifth inning with two runners aboard. Reliever Chris Cooper was able to come in a shut down Puerto Rico not allowing a run in the fifth.

Italy struck first in the top of fifth inning loading the bases on singles from Anthony Granato and Chris Denorfia along with Nick Punto reaching on a catcher’s interference. With one out and the bases loaded, up stepped Anthony Rizzo who one-hopped the wall in right center field for along bases clearing double.

Puerto Rico got their first run an inning later. With two outs and runners at the corners, Carlos Rivera hit a ground ball to shortstop Granato that looked like it would end the inning. However, Granato didn’t charge it at all and the ball played him skipping off his glove into center field allowing Yadier Molina to score from third base.

Things started to fall apart for Italy in the bottom of the eighth inning. Carlos Beltran led off the inning with a walk. Yadier Molina followed him up with a single to right field putting runners at the corners for Mike Aviles. Aviles grounded into a force play at second base allowing Beltran to score from third making the score 3-2.

After an Alex Rios single put runners at the corners again, reliever Brian Sweeney was replaced after getting only one out. Pat Venditte came in to try and hold the lead, but he was unable.

Luis Figueroa was brought in to pinch-hit facing Venditte and immediately drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly.

Next up was Alex Gonzalez who hit a bouncing ball between third and short that was slightly deflected by third baseman Alex Liddi. Italy shortstop Granato was able to come up with the ball off the deflection but by the time he readjusted and made the throw to first, it was too late and Alex Rios had scored to give Puerto Rico a 4-3 lead.

Fernando Cabrera came in to get the last out in the ninth striking out Liddi capping off the comeback and earning the save. Hiram Burgos pitched 3.2 innings in relief allowing just three hits and striking out four to pick up the win. Sweeney took the loss.

The loss sends Italy home and sends Puerto Rico into the next elimination game. They will face the loser of the USA vs. Dominican Republic game on Friday night.

Mar 12, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; United States third baseman David Wright (5) hits a 3 run double against Puerto Rico at Marlins Park. United States defeated Puerto Rico 7-1. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Round 2 was in full swing on Tuesday. Pool 1 finished up in Japan with the host team winning the pool and taking the #1 seed into the semifinals. Pool 2 kicked off with a pair of games setting up a showdown between two of the most powerful teams in the Classic, the Dominican Republic and USA.

Pool 1 – Tokyo, Japan

Netherlands 6, Japan 10

Box Score

Despite taking the lead on the second pitch of the game, the Netherlands were fighting an uphill battle all night long.

Andrelton Simmons hit his second home run of the 2013 World Baseball Classic on the second pitch of the game taking Kenji Otonari deep to left center field.

The lead was short lived though. In the bottom of the second inning, Japan broke through with eight runs of their own. It all started on Shinnosuke Abe’s first home run of the game, and inning.

After a nice 1-2-3 inning in the first, Dutch starter David Bergman was locked in a nine-pitch battle with Abe. Abe won. He took Bergman’s ninth offering out over the right field wall in what would be a historic inning.

Bergman would only get through 1.2 innings allowing seven runs on four hits. He was relieved by Jonatan Isenia in the second inning. The first batter he would face, Shinnosuke Abe.

Abe was locked in and set a WBC record that might not be broken or tied for a long time by sending the fourth pitch he saw from Isenia over the right field wall for a three-run home run, his second of the inning. That capped off an eight-run second inning for Japan.

The Dutch battled back late in the game to pull to within 8-6, but it was too little too late. Japan would tack on two more runs in the eighth and win 10-6.

Along with Abe’s record night, Hisayoshi Chono had a big night driving in five runs including three on a bases clearing double in the eight-run second.

Otonari picked up the win tossing three innings allowing just the one hit to Simmons while striking out six. Bergman took the loss.

The win gives Japan the Pool 1 victory heading into the semifinals. They will be seeded #1 from Pool 1 and will face the #2 seed from Pool 2 in San Francisco.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Italy 4, Dominican Republic 5

Box Score

Italy looked to continue its run through the World Baseball Classic, and it looked like that run would continue after the first inning.

Edinson Volquez couldn’t find the strike zone early in the game walking the first three batters. Italy cleanup hitter Alex Liddi got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Nick Punto. The big blow came next.

Chris Colabello worked to get ahead in the count, and then hit a 2-1 fastball from Volquez over the right center field wall for a three-run home run. Italy led after a half inning 4-0.

Volquez settled down and pitched 3.1 more innings allowing just two more hits and no more runs. After the first inning Italy was almost completely shut down. Over the last 4.2 innings, the Dominican Republic bullpen allowed just one hit.

The Dominican finally got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Jose Reyes led off the innings with a solo home run to cut the Italy lead to 4-1. Three innings later they got another run. This time it was on a Robinson Cano home run to right center field.

Italy starter Tiago Da Silva pitched well. He threw 5.1 innings allowing just two runs on five hits. Unfortunately for Italy, the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

Pat Venditte came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and the bases loaded. He got Miguel Tejada to line out to right field getting out of the inning. Venditte went back out to start the bottom of the seventh. He got the first batter to pop out, but then he gave up three straight singles and was lifted.

Luca Panerati came on in relief and immediately walked in a run. That was all for Panerati.

The Dominican Republic picked up two more runs that inning. The first one came on a Hanley Ramirez sacrifice fly followed by a RBI single from Nelson Cruz.

Pedro Strop picked up a win with one inning of work. Fernando Rodney walked one and struck out one earning the save by pitching the ninth.

Pool 2 – Miami, Florida

Puerto Rico 1, USA 7

Box Score

Gio Gonzalez pitched great tossing five shutout innings allowing just three hits to pick up the win. He struck out five along the way. He never allowed more than one runner to reach base in an inning and kept Puerto Rico off balance all night.

As well as Gonzalez pitched though, the hero was once again David Wright. Wright drove in five runs in the game doubling his total for the 2013 WBC to 10. The five tied the high for this year’s Classic with Jose Abreu of Cuba and Hisayoshi Chono who reached the mark earlier in the day.

Wright, who has been dubbed ‘Captain America’ after his earlier heroics against Italy, knocked in a run with a ground out, one with a single, and in the eighth innings three with a bases loaded double.

The game was closer than the final score indicates. The Puerto Rico pitching staff did a good job limiting the damage until late in the game. Mario Santiago started and pitched 4.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits. He took the loss, but didn’t pitch too bad against the strong US lineup.

Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Braun, and Giancarlo Stanton joined Wright with two hits in the game.

The two losers, Italy and Puerto Rico, will face off with one another in an elimination game on Wednesday.

The win sets up a showdown that many have been looking forward to between the USA and Dominican Republic on Thursday at 7pm EST.

Who do you think wins the big game between the USA and Dominican?