World Baseball Classic: Cuba 13, Panama 4
It may be too late to save their prospects of advancing, but the touted Cuban team partially redeemed its tarnished reputation against Panama.
White Sox star Yoan Moncada, hitless through his team’s two opening defeats, hit safely three times and drove in four runs to lead the rout of Panama. Catcher Yadil Mujica, a veteran of various leagues, added three hits and four RBI.
Other than as a salve to Cuban pride, the outcome was more damaging to the losers than it was helpful to the winners. Panama now joins Cuba at 1-2 in the Taichung group, leaving both teams desperate for outside assistance if they hope to be one of the two teams advancing to the tournament’s second round.
Ironically, Moncada shaped up as the goat of the game after his second inning throwing error on a ground ball set up Panama’s four-run second inning. Major League veteran Ruben Tejada followed that error with a two-run home run, erasing a 2-0 Cuba advantage.
But Moncada improved his reputation with a single that drove in a run as part of a four-run sixth inning. His hit broke a 4-4 tie and kick-started a renewed offense that generated 11 runs over the next three innings. Another Moncada hit in the seventh would drive in one of those runs, and an eighth-inning base on balls capped the Cuban scoring.