World Baseball Classic: Israel 3, Nicaragua 1
Garrett Stubbs delivered a clutch ground rule double and four Team Israel pitchers stifled Nicaragua on four hits in Miami.
Stubbs’ double came with two out in the eighth inning and scored two runners to break a 1-1 tie. It capped a three-run inning for Israel.
His drive, off Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, came with the bases loaded. Through the first seven innings, four Nicaragua pitchers had shut out Israel on just four hits.
With one out in that eighth inning, Loaisiga allowed a base hit to Alex Dickerson and then hit Ryan Lavarnway with a pitch. Spencer Horwitz lined a single to left, scoring Dickerson, and an intentional walk to Noah Mendlinger loaded the bases, setting up a force at home.
The Nicaraguans thought Loaisiga had escaped the jam when he got Michael Wielansky to ground back to the pitcher. Loaisiga’s throw home forced Lavarnway, but the runner’s slide into home undercut Nicaraguan catcher Melvin Novoa, preventing a potential double play.
The Nicaraguans protested interference on Lavarnway, but umpires ruled his slide legal and refused to call the batter out at first. That set the stage for Stubbs’ heroics.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer pitched four shutout innings for Israel, allowing three hits. Nicaragua’s only run scored on Steve Leyton’s fifth inning, which brought across Sandy Bermudez, who had walked.