2017 World Baseball Classic

The 2017 World Baseball Classic was the 4th World Baseball Classic. The top 12 teams from the 2013 World Baseball Classic won return trips ( Canada, People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela) with four teams who won spots through their performances in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers ( Australia, Colombia. Mexico and Israel). Colombia made its Classic debut, replacing 2013 entry Spain while fellow newcomer Israel replaced Brazil.

There was speculation it would be the last World Baseball Classic if revenues did not improve. Major League Baseball officials, on the other hand, not only talked about a 2021 edition, but indicated they would be adding more teams to the qualifiers. In an interview during the 2017 Classic, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred insisted that there would be a Classic in 2021. There was a 34% attendance increase for round one (621,851) compared to 2013. The total attendance for the tournament topped 1 million for the first time, with 1,086,720 fans walking through the turnstiles at the various ballparks where games were staged. The World Baseball Classic Championship Game was the largest ever U.S. audience for a Spanish language telecast of a baseball game with 761,000 viewers on ESPN Deportes and a simulcast on ESPN2.

The United States won the tournament for the first time, defeating returning finalists Puerto Rico in the final game, 8-0. The strong performance by the Americans led to increased media attention in the United States, something that had been lacking after the lackluster performances of Team USA in the first three editions, and this also was a big help in solidifying the event.

Schedule[edit]

Game Results[edit]

March 6[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
Israel	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	0
South Korea	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Josh Zeid (1-0), Loss: Chang-yong Lim (0-1)
Home Runs
none
Umpires
HP: Brian Knight (USA); 1B: Frantisek Pribyl (Czech Republic); 2B: Brett Robson (Australia); 3B: D.J. Reyburn (USA)
Time of Game: 4:11 Attendance: 15,470

Israel started the Classic with a huge upset of the pool hosts, the champions of the last major global event (the 2015 Premier 12), South Korea, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in attendance. Israel went ahead in the 2nd off Won-jun Chang when 1B Nate Freiman walked, RF Zach Borenstein doubled, C Ryan Lavarnway drew a one-out walk and 2B Tyler Krieger drew a full-count walk to force in a run. Chang recovered to fan SS Scotty Burcham and get CF Sam Fuld on a grounder to escape further harm. Israel went to ace Jason Marquis for the opener and he did not let them down, allowing two hits and a walk in three shutout frames, fanning three before being removed to save his eligibility for later in the round (he had not yet thrown 50 pitches). After a scoreless 4th by Zack Thornton, South Korea scored in the 5th. 3B Kyoung-min Hur walked and Thornton hit SS Jae-ho Kim. Jeremy Bleich relieved and got an out but then allowed a run-scoring single to 2B Geon-chang Seo to tie the game. Bleich, Gabe Cramer, Alex Katz and Josh Zeid blanked the hosts the rest of the way.

Israel challenged in the 7th. With two outs, Burcham singled off Jong-hyun Won. Hyun-seung Lee relieved and allowed a single to Fuld, then 3B Ty Kelly walked. Lee got LF Blake Gailen on a liner to escape that jam. In the 8th, Israel again loaded the bags. Borenstein drew a one-out walk from Chang-min Lim and pinch-hitter Ike Davis doubled. Lavarnway was intentionally walked to load the bags. Lim got Krieger to ground to Hur, who threw home for the force out. Seung-hwan Oh then came in to fan Burcham on four pitches and keep the score tied. In the 10th, the same group of Israeli players were at it again. Chang-yong Lim came on and the veteran closer got one out but then walked Davis and allowed a single to Lavarnway. Davis moved to third, where he was replaced by pinch-runner Mike Meyers. Krieger popped up a bunt attempt, but Burcham singled in Meyers with the winner. Zeid got the win with three shutout innings (1 H, 2 BB, 4 K); he finished the game by retiring all three batters in order in the bottom of the 10th, including Jae-won Oh and Dae-ho Lee on strikes. Like Marquis, Zeid did not reach his 50-pitch limit so he could pitch again in the round.

March 7[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
Israel	4	0	2	0	0	0	5	1	3	15	20	1
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	4	7	12	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Corey Baker (1-0), Loss: Chun-Lin Kuo (0-1)
Home Runs
Israel: Nate Freiman (1), Ryan Lavarnway (1) Taipei: None
Umpires
HP: Chikara Tsugawa (Japan); 1B: Ted Barrett (USA); 2B: Brian Knight (USA); 3B: František Přibyl (Czech Republic)
Time of Game: 3:54 Attendance: 3,287

Israel set the pace early off starter Chun-Lin Kuo, who did not last through the 1st, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs in 2/3 of an inning, the first four Israeli batters making it 2-0 before an out was registered. 1B Nate Freiman had 3 runs, 3 hits and 4 RBI, including a three-run homer in the 9th off Kuo-Hua Lo. C Ryan Lavarnway hit a two-run homer in the 3rd against Kuan-Yu Chen, 3B Ty Kelly had 3 hits, DH Ike Davis 3 hits, 2 runs and 2 RBI and 2B Tyler Krieger 3 hits and 3 RBI. Israel's starter, Corey Baker, pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings (3 H, 3 K), though the bullpen was not as sharp - it did not need to be as the team led 6-0 by the time Baker left the game and still had plenty of offense left.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Netherlands	2	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	5	11	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Rick van den Hurk (1-0), Loss: Kyu-min Woo (0-1)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Jurickson Profar (1), Randolph Oduber (1) South Korea: none
Umpires
HP: D.J. Reyburn (USA); 1B: Brian Knight (USA); 2B: Brett Robson (Australia); 3B: František Přibyl (Czech Republic)
Time of Game: 3:03 Attendance: 15,184

After a ceremonial first pitch by Dutch Ambassador to South Korea Lody Embrechts, the Kingdom of the Netherlands rolled past the hosts, who had now been held to one run in two days in a very disappointing performance. Rick van den Hurk, a veteran of the Korea Baseball Organization, starred in his first game for the Netherlands in eight years. He allowed 3 hits and walked 2 in four shutout frames and was followed by strong relief work from Diegomar Markwell (1 H, 2 BB, 0 R in 2 IP), Shairon Martis (a perfect 7th by the only man to have thrown a perfecto in a WBC), Tom Stuifbergen (one hit in a 1-2-3 8th) and Loek van Mil (one hit in the 9th). Van Mil got the lone Dutch whiff, 3B Seok-min Park, to end the game. CF Yong-kyu Lee (1 for 2, 2 BB) was the best South Korean hitter.

The Netherlands started strong off Kyu-min Woo when SS Andrelton Simmons led off with a single and CF Jurickson Profar homered. Simmons doubled in RF Randolph Oduber in the 2nd. In the 6th, C Dashenko Ricardo hit a single off Jong-hyun Won and Oduber went deep to cap the scoring.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Cuba	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	2	0	6	11	3
Japan	1	0	0	1	5	0	2	2	x	11	14	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Ayumu Ishikawa (1-0), Loss: Yoanni Yera (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Nobuhiro Matsuda (1), Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (1) Cuba: Alfredo Despaigne (1)
Umpires
HP: Todd Tichenor (USA); 1B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy); 2B: Su-won Choi (South Korea); 3B: Cory Blaser (USA)
Time of Game: 3:56 Attendance: 49,908

In a rematch of the 2006 finalists, hosts Japan fared better than Pool A hosts South Korea had been doing. In the 1st, Cuba threatened with a walk, hit and reached-on-error but a double play helped save Ayumu Ishikawa from allowing a run. In the bottom of the 1st, Japan got a two-out double by CF Norichika Aoki off Noelvis Entenza and a RBI single by LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. Entenza lasted only 1 1/3 IP, allowing four hits and one walk; Yoannis Yera relieved him. Entenza still had Cuba's lowest ERA on the day. Cuba tied it in the 3rd on a double by 19-year-old LF Yoelkis Céspedes, a sacrifice bunt by CF Roel Santos and a sacrifice fly by SS Alexander Ayala.

Japan went ahead for good in the 4th. 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda singled with one away and was bunted over by C Seiji Kobayashi. DH Tetsuto Yamada smacked what appeared to be a home run but third base umpire Cory Blaser ruled that a fan had interfered with the ball, making it a ground-rule double instead. Japan then padded the lead in the 5th. 1B Sho Nakata drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on a double by SS Hayato Sakamoto. José Angel García relieved but Cuba's all-time save leader walked RF Seiya Suzuki and surrendered a three-run dinger to Matsuda and the rout was on.

#8 hitter Matsuda finished with 4 hits, 4 RBI and 3 runs while Tsutsugo also drove in 3. Bright spots for Cuba were Céspedes' 3 hits from the #9 slot and a solo homer by LF Alfredo Despaigne off Takahiro Norimoto; Despaigne was no stranger to the Japanese crowd, which greeted him fondly, as he had starred in the Pacific League for the prior three seasons.

March 8[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
People's Republic of China	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Cuba	0	0	0	4	0	1	1	0	x	6	14	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Vladimir Banos (1-0), Loss: Xia Luo (0-1)
Home Runs
none
Umpires
HP: Su-won Choi (South Korea); 1B: Larry Vanover (USA); 2B: Todd Tichenor (USA); 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy)
Time of Game: 3:14 Attendance: 39,102

Cuba rebounded from its opening loss, but failed to break through against China starter Bruce Chen, who had previously pitched for his native Panama in the World Baseball Classic. Chen went 2 2/3 innings and allowed three hits and a walk but did not give up a run and maintained his eligibility for later in the pool by leaving after 49 pitches. In the 4th, Cuba erupted off Xia Luo. 2B Carlos Benítez singled and C Frank Morejón got plunked. RF Yoelquis Céspedes doubled off the right-field wall to bring in Benítez. CF Roel Santos then cracked a two-run triple and SS Alexander Ayala doubled him in and Cuba had all the runs it would need, and then some. Santos, Ayala and 3B Yurisbel Gracial each had three hits.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Baños was superb, allowing only a single to Shunyi Yang in five shutout frames, fanning four. Vladimir García (2 IP, 1 BB, 2 K), Liván Moinelo (1 IP, 1 BB, 3 K) and Miguel Lahera (1 IP, 1 K) wrapped up the one-hitter.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
Chinese Taipei	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	5	10	1
Netherlands	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	1	1	6	13	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shairon Martis (1-0), Loss: Hung-Wen Chen (0-1)
Home Runs
Chinese Taipei: Chi-Hao Chang (1); Netherlands: none
Umpires
HP: Ted Barrett (USA); 1B: Brett Robson (Australia); 2B: D.J. Reyburn (USA); 3B: Chikara Tsugawa (Japan)
Time of Game: 3:21 Attendance: 3,606

The Netherlands punched their ticket to the second round (as well as ensuring Israel would advance) with a surprisingly close win over Taiwan following their strong opener against South Korea, a stronger baseball country. RF Wladimir Balentien opened the 2nd inning with a single off Chia-Hao Sung to start a 4-for-4 day at the plate. DH Didi Gregorius doubled with one out, the first of three doubles for him as he was the other Dutch star. 1B Curt Smith hit a grounder to 3B Chih-Hsien Chiang. The Taiwanese defenders caught Balentien in a run-down, but Gregorius got to third and Smith to second. C Dashenko Ricardo then singled in Balentien, making the Netherlands happy he had ended his retirement early.

In the top of the 3rd, Taiwan got to Jair Jurrjens. LF Chih-Hao Chang singled (he would go 3-for-5) and Chiang singled; a wild pitch scored Chang. 2B Chih-Sheng Lin hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Chang. In the bottom of the 4th, the Orange went back ahead. Balentien and 2B Jonathan Schoop singled. Gregorius smacked a two-run double for a 3-2 lead. Ricardo then again delivered, a run-scoring single with one out off reliever Shao-Ching Chiang. In the top of the 5th, Taiwan came back against Lars Huijer. DH Chin-Lung Hu singled and Chang hit a high smash into right to make it 4-4. Chih-Hsien Chiang singled, advanced on a wild pitch and Chih-Sheng Lin singled. 1B Yi-Chuan Lin then grounded into a run-scoring double play as Taiwan got its second lead.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands evened it in the 8th. 3B Xander Bogaerts singled off Shao-Ching Chiang and Balentien once again singled. Schoop hit into a double play and Fu-Te Ni relieved Chiang. Gregorius doubled to left to bring in Bogaerts with the game-tier. In the 9th, Taiwan turned to Hung-Wen Chen, who had led the CPBL in saves the prior two campaigns. Ricardo grounded to third but Chih-Hsien Chiang made an error, allowing him to reach base safely. Chen plunked LF Randolph Oduber. SS Andrelton Simmons, 0-for-4 to that point, singled and Dwayne Kemp pinch-ran for Ricardo. CF Jurickson Profar appeared to be out on a pop up but 3B umpire Chikara Tsugawa said he had called time before Chen had delivered his pitch. Given a second chance, Profar drew a walk to force in Kemp with the winning run.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Japan	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	0	4	8	1
Australia	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kodai Senga (1-0), Loss: Matthew Williams (0-1), Save: Kazuhisa Makita (1)
Home Runs
Australia: Allan de San Miguel (1); Japan Sho Nakata (1); Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (2)
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Todd Tichenor (USA); 2B: Chien-Wen Su (Chinese Taipei); 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy)
Time of Game: 3:18 Attendance: 41,408

Australia kicked off with a fairly good game, keeping it close until the late innings against the Samurai Japan powerhouse. The Aussies got on board in the 2nd when C Allan de San Miguel took Tomoyuki Sugano deep. Sugano (4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K), Toshiya Okada (2/3 IP, 1 BB), Kodai Senga (2 IP, 1 H, 4 K), Naoki Miyanishi (1 IP, 2 K) and Kazuhisa Makita (1 IP, 1 K) shut down the Aussies the rest of the way.

Australian starter Tim Atherton turned in a strong outing in his debut for the Southern Thunder. He blanked the hosts for the first four innings. SS Hayato Sakamoto opened the 5th with a double and RF Seiya Suzuki singled. 20-year-old Lachlan Wells relieved and 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. Wells retired the next five batters, two by strikeout. In the 7th, Matthew Williams hung a curveball that 1B Sho Nakata hit out to put the home team ahead for the first time. In the 8th, Japan got two insurance runs off Jon Kennedy when CF Norichika Aoki walked and LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo drilled his second home run of the Classic.

March 9[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
Netherlands	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	5	1
Israel	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	x	4	8	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jason Marquis (1-0), Loss: Rob Cordemans (0-1), Save: Josh Zeid (1)
Home Runs
none
Umpires
HP: Brian Knight (USA); 1B: Chikara Tsugawa (Japan); 2B: Ted Barrett (USA); 3B: Frantisek Pribyl (Czech Republic)
Time of Game: 3:12 Attendance: 2,739

Israel remained unbeaten, topping fellow 2-0 team the Netherlands. As both teams had already locked up spots for the next round, the managers rotated plenty of pitchers in and out of the game. In the bottom of the 1st, Israel lit up four-time Olympian Rob Cordemans, the 42-year-old veteran not looking as sharp as in his prime. 3B Ty Kelly drew a one-out walk, DH Ike Davis singled, 1B Nate Freiman doubled in Kelly, RF Zach Borenstein grounded home Davis and C Ryan Lavarnway singled in Freiman for a 3-0 lead. The Dutch staff contained Israel for most of the remainder but could not catch up.

In the 3rd, the Orange got their first run. Joey Wagman walked LF Randolph Oduber, then CF Jurickson Profar doubled as part of a 3-for-3 day and 3B Xander Bogaerts grounded in Oduber. In the 6th, Israel got that run back against Lars Huijer. Kelly hit into an error by 2B Jonathan Schoop and Davis walked. After a wild pitch, Huijer hit Freiman and Borenstein hit into a run-scoring double play. The Netherlands finished the scoring in the 8th. Facing Jeremy Bleich, backup CF Sharlon Schoop hit into an error by Kelly with one out and Bogaerts walked. Josh Zeid relieved and walked RF Wladimir Balentien, then Jonathan Schoop hit into an error by 2B Tyler Krieger to score his brother.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Australia	0	0	2	2	0	0	3	4	x	11	9	0
People's Republic of China	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	0	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Travis Blackley (1-0), Loss: Kwon Ju (0-1)
Home Runs
Australia: Luke Hughes (1), James Beresford (1) China: none
Umpires
HP: Larry Vanover (USA); 1B: Su-won Choi (South Korea); 2B: Cory Blaser (USA); 3B: Chien-Wen Su (Chinese Taipei)
Time of Game: 2:59 Attendance: 3,013

Australia pounded China to keep its second-round hopes alive. 1B Luke Hughes started the scoring with a two-run homer off Kwon Ju in the 3rd. Hughes finished with 4 RBI while 2B James Beresford had 3 runs and 4 RBI, the latter on a grand slam in the 8th inning. 1B Fujia Chu was China's top hitter, going 1 for 2 with two walks. Travis Blackley (2 H, 0 BB in 4 2/3 IP) provided a strong start while Dushan Ruzic, Todd Van Steensel and Tom Bailey finished it up (3 H, 2 BB in 3 1/3 IP).

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at the Gocheok Sky Dome
South Korea	1	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	11	18	0
Chinese Taipei	0	3	0	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	8	13	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Seung-hwan Oh (1-0), Loss: Hung-Wen Chen (0-2)
Home Runs
South Korea: Tae-kyun Kim (1) Taipei: Che-Hsuan Lin (1)
Umpires
HP: D.J. Reyburn (USA); 1B: Ted Barrett (USA); 2B: Brett Robson (Australia); 3B: Chikara Tsugawa (Japan)
Time of Game: 4:40 Attendance: 12,000

South Korea eked out its only win to save some face at home, but it was a struggle. They exploded early, for three runs in 1 1/3 IP off starter Kuan-Yu Chen and three more in the 2nd against Chun-Lin Kuo. Taiwan battled back, though, tying it in the 7th when SS Yung-Chi Chen singled off Si-hwan Jang to score RF Kuo-Hui Kao. Jong-hyun Won, with a shutout 8th, was the first South Korean hurler today to post an ERA under 9, whereas Taiwan was getting solid relief from Sheng-Hsiung Huang (3 K in 1 1/3 IP) and Ching-Ming Wang (3 K in 1 2/3 IP). Taipei's comeback from 6 runs down forced extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, South Korea finally pulled ahead for good. C Eui-ji Yang's sacrifice fly off Hung-Wen Chen scored 1B Jae-won Oh, then pinch-hitter Tae-kyun Kim drilled a two-run homer for insurance. Seung-hwan Oh finally gave South Korea a good job from a bullpen member as he retired six of seven batters, three by strikeout. 12 players got hits for South Korea and ten scored runs in a balanced attack. For Taiwan, DH Chin-Lung Hu has 3 RBI and C Kun-Sheng Lin 3 hits and 3 runs in their second close loss in a row to finish 0-3.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
Canada	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
Dominican Republic	0	4	0	0	1	3	1	0	x	9	15	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Carlos Martinez (1-0), Loss: Ryan Dempster (0-1)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Welington Castillo (1), Jose Bautista (1) Canada: none
Umpires
HP: Dan Iassogna (USA); 1B: Mark Wegner (USA); 2B: Edwin Hernandez (Puerto Rico); 3B: Jesus Miller (Mexico)
Time of Game: 3:14 Attendance: 27,388

The star-studded Dominicans started their title defense in strong fashion. Canadian Ryan Dempster, away from baseball for three years, came out of retirement to help the pitching-thin team, but struggled against the potent Dominican attack. In the 2nd, RF Nelson Cruz doubled. CF Gregory Polanco (manning the position because of an injury to Pittsburgh teammate Starling Marte) singled in Cruz, then C Welington Castillo smacked a homer. The rout was on. LF Jose Bautista finished with three hits and four RBI (including a three-run blast off Dustin Molleken) and SS Jose Reyes had three hits for the Dominican team. Carlos Martinez allowed only one unearned run on three hits and no walks in four innings, fanning three; his fastball hit 100.6, harder than all but four pitches he had thrown during the 2016 season.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Mexico	1	0	1	2	3	0	2	0	0	9	13	1
Italy	1	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	5	10	12	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jordan Romano (1-0), Loss: Roberto Osuna (0-1)
Home Runs
Mexico: Esteban Quiroz (1), Japhet Amador (1); Italy: John Andreoli (1), Rob Segedin (1), Chris Colabello (1), Drew Butera (1)
Umpires
HP: Dan Bellino (USA); 1B: Doug Eddings (USA); 2B: Santos Castillo (Dominican Republic); 3B: Winfried Berkvens (Netherlands)
Time of Game: 3:39 Attendance: 14,296

Continuing the trend from Pool A, the hosts lost their opener in a heartbreaker, as Mexico lost to Italy in the 9th inning for the second straight Classic - this time blowing a four-run lead with two prominent major league relievers failing to come through.

2B Esteban Quiroz began the slugfest early, with a leadoff homer off Alessandro Maestri on the game's fifth pitch. In the bottom of the 1st, RF John Andreoli took Yovani Gallardo deep to tie it. In the top of the 3rd, RF Sebastian Elizalde hit into an error by SS Gavin Cecchini and Quiroz doubled him in with one out. In the bottom of the 4th, DH Japhet Amador homered off Tiago Da Silva for the first of three runs for the 300+-pound slugger. Italy struck right back as 2B Daniel Descalso singled with one out, LF Rob Segedin homered and 1B Chris Colabello hit a two-run shot for the third gopher ball surrendered by Gallardo.

In the top of the 5th, Mexico retook the lead against switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. Quiroz was hit, CF Alex Verdugo singled and with two away, Amador singled. LF Efren Navarro drew a walk to bring in Quiroz then SS Luis Cruz stroked a two-run double for a 7-4 edge. DH Drew Butera homered off Fernando Salas in the bottom of the inning and it was 7-5. Vidal Nuno took over for Salas and he, Carlos Torres, Joakim Soria and Sergio Romo each worked a scoreless frame. In the top of the 7th, Mexico padded its lead when A.J. Morris walked Amador with two away, Navarro singled (Chris Roberson pinch-ran), Cruz walked and Elizalde greeted reliever Mike DeMark with a single to plate Amador and Roberson.

Mexico carried a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the 9th with four relievers in a row having done well. They turned to closer Roberto Osuna, who had saved 36 games with a 2.68 ERA for the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays. He did not close out this one, however. C Francisco Cervelli doubled and Sebastiano Poma pinch-ran for him. Colabello doubled and 3B Alex Liddi, the first major leaguer born and raised in Italy, delivered a two-run double to suddenly make it a two-run game with the tying run at the plate. Butera hit into an error by veteran Cruz at short. Backup SS Drew Maggi drew a ten-pitch walk. Osuna was yanked, having retired none of the five hitters he faced. He was relieved by Oliver Pérez, who was one of the few players to have played in all four Classics to this point (he had done very well in 2006, poorly in 2009 and seen little action in 2013). He allowed a single to CF Brandon Nimmo that tied the game and a game-losing single to Andreoli to cap the stunning comeback as Italy again topped Mexico with a 9th-inning comeback.

March 10[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Australia	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	3	13	1
Cuba	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	4	10	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Vladimir Garcia (1-0), Loss: Lachlan Wells (0-1), Save: Miguel Lahera (1)
Home Runs
Australia: Trent Oeltjen (1) Cuba: Alfredo Despaigne (1)
Umpires
HP: Todd Tichenor (USA); 1B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy); 2B: Larry Vanover (USA); 3B: Su-won Choi (South Korea)
Time of Game: 3:36 Attendance: 38,050

Cuba managed to qualify for the next round thanks to one timely swing of the bat from Alfredo Despaigne, who connected off Australia's Lachlan Wells with the bases loaded in the 5th inning for a grand slam. That was Cuba's only scoring play of the game, but it was just enough to edge the pesky Australians, 4-3. The Aussies had actually taken the lead in the top of the 5th on a walk and a steal of second by Mitch Dening and a two-out single by Logan Wade. This was coming on the heels of four solid innings by starter Warwick Saupold, who limited Cuba to 4 hits and a walk. In the bottom of the 5th inning, however, reliever Wells allowed a single to Roel Santos after striking out the first two batters of the inning, and then the roof caved in. Alexander Ayala singled as well, then Frederich Cepeda drew a walk to load the bases, and Despaigne sent everyone home with his big fly.

Australia was stunned, but did not roll over. In the 7th, Trent Oeltjen cut the lead with a solo homer off Vladimir Garcia, and in the 8th, the Australians moved to within a run when Luke Hughes doubled with two outs and Dening followed with a single off reliever Livan Moinelo; Tim Kennelly hit another single to put Dening in scoring position, but Moinelo struck out Oeltjen to end the inning. Miguel Lahera then came in to pitch the 9th and got Stefan Welch on a fly out and Allan de San Miguel and Brad Harman both on strikes to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
People's Republic of China	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	3
Japan	1	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	x	7	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shota Takeda (1-0), Loss: Quan Gan (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Seiji Kobayashi (1), Sho Nakata (2) China: none
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Larry Vanover (USA); 2B: Chien-Wen Su (Chinese Taipei); 3B: Su-won Choi (South Korea)
Time of Game: 2:41 Attendance: 40,053

In a largely meaningless game, Japan easily defeated China, 7-1, to clinch first place in Pool B in front of a large and very supportive crowd. Most of the damage came from two long balls, a two-run shot by Seiji Kobayashi off losing pitcher Quan Gan in the 2nd, and a two-run shot by Sho Nakata in the 3rd, also off Gan. Japan was up 5-0 after 3 and the rest of the game was academic given China had not scored a single run in the tournament until finally breaking through in the top of the 3rd. Guiyuan Xu opened that inning with a single off Shota Takeda but was picked off first base. Fujia Chu drew a two-out walk and Joey Wong followed with a single allowing veteran Ray Chang to drive in Chu with a single.

Takeda received credit for the win, but he gave up 4 of 5 China's five hits and its lone run in three innings. Five relievers then shut the Chinese batters down completely to complete the win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
Colombia	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
United States	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	6	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Tyler Clippard (1-0), Loss: Guillermo Moscoso (0-1)
Home Runs
none
Umpires
HP: Tripp Gibson (USA); 1B: Jesus Miller (Mexico); 2B: Dan Iassogna (USA); 3B: Edgar Estivison (Panama)
Time of Game: 3:25 Attendance: 22,580

The USA had a tougher game than it expected in its tournament opener, as it needed 10 innings to defeat Colombia, which was making its debut in a World Baseball Classic. Colombian starter Jose Quintana was excellent, keeping the U.S. hitless until the 6th inning, but so was Chris Archer for the USA, as he gave his team four hitless innings of work. Colombia scored twice off Brian Givens in the 5th as Jesús Valdez doubled with two outs - the first hit of the game for either team - and Adrian Sanchez and Mauricio Ramos doubled in turn. The US replied in the 6th, also with two outs, as Brandon Crawford singled. Quintana left the game at that point, but his successor, William Cuevas, was not as sharp: he allowed a single to Ian Kinsler and a double to Adam Jones for a first run before striking out Nolan Arenado - but not before a wild pitch had allowed Kinsler to score the tying run.

The score remained tied at 2 until the 10th inning. US manager Jim Leyland used five different relievers to get him from the 6th to the 10th, but collectively they only allowed 2 hits and 3 walks. Meanwhile, Cuevas did not allow anything more of consequence as he stayed until the end of the 8th, Greg Nappo got one out in the 9th, and Guillermo Moscoso completed that inning. In the 10th, Moscoso gave up a one-out walk to Christian Yelich then walked Crawford as well. He got Kinsler on a ground out, but both runners advanced another 90 feet before Jones ended the game with a single to center that gave the USA a 3-2 win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	x	0	3	1
Puerto Rico	0	0	2	0	0	3	6	x	x	11	10	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Seth Lugo (1-0), Loss: Felix Hernandez (0-1)
Home Runs
Puerto Rico: Carlos Correa (1), Yadier Molina (1), T.J. Rivera (1) Venezuela: none
Umpires
HP: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 1B: Michael Ulloa (Spain); 2B: Dan Bellino (USA); 3B: Winfried Berkvens (Netherlands)
Time of Game: 2:43 Attendance: 14,806

Puerto Rico opened its tournament with an emphatic 11-0 win over Venezuela, ending the game with the invocation of the mercy rule after only 7 innings. For Venezuela, the heavy loss was the continuation of the woes the team had suffered in a disappointing performance four years earlier. The game was tight for the first few innings, as starters Felix Hernandez for Venezuela and Seth Lugo for Puerto Rico exchanged zeros. However, Puerto Rico knocked out King Felix with two runs in the 3rd, the result of a lead-off triple by Eddie Rosario, a sacrifice fly by T.J. Rivera, a single by Reymond Fuentes and a walk to Francisco Lindor. 3B Martin Prado committed an error on a ground ball by Carlos Correa and the bases were loaded for Carlos Beltran, who drew another walk to push in a second run. Gregory Infante then replaced Hernandez.

There was no more scoring until the 6th, when Puerto Rico used the long ball to pad its lead. Correa led off the frame with a homer off Jhoulys Chacin, Beltran drew a walk and Yadier Molina hit another long ball to make it 5-0. In the 7th, Chacin plunked Lindor with one out, but Correa forced him out. He then stole second base and scored on a single by Beltran that opened the floodgates as Deolis Guerra took over on the mound. Guerra faced four batters who tagged him for a single, another single, a double and a homer by Rivera that pushed the islanders' lead over 10 runs and ended the game there and then.

March 11[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
Colombia	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	11	0
Canada	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Julio Teheran (1-0), Loss: Ryan Kellogg (0-1), Save: Dayan Diaz (1)
Home Runs
none
Umpires
HP: Edwin Hernández (Puerto Rico); 1B: Dan Iassogna (USA); 2B: Tripp Gibson (USA); 3B: Edgar Estivison (Panama)
Time of Game: 2:54 Attendance: 17,209

Only a few hours after a tough extra-innings loss to the USA, Colombia came back to earn its first-ever win in the World Baseball Classic by defeating Canada, 4-1. Colombia started the second of its twin aces, Julio Teheran, and like Jose Quintana the evening before, he was excellent. However, he did falter a bit in the 1st inning, when he allowed a one-out walk to Justin Morneau, and then back-to-back singles to Eric Wood and Freddie Freeman to account for a run. With runners on the corners and one out, however, Canada ran itself out of a potential big inning when Freeman was caught stealing second base, and Tyler O'Neill then struck out to end the threat. Canada's starting pitcher, AA prospect Nick Pivetta, was also quite good, and while the Colombians put a number of runners on in the four innings he pitched, they only scored once, in the 3rd, when Tito Polo singled and stole second with two outs, then scored on a single by Donovan Solano.

The score was thus 1-1 in the top of the 5th when Ryan Kellogg, a last-minute addition to the Canadian pitching staff, relieved Pivetta. He allowed Colombia to take the lead when Donovan Solano drove in his brother Jhonatan Solano. In the 6th, Rowan Wick loaded the bases after two outs, and manager Ernie Whitt, called on 41-year-old veteran Eric Gagné to wiggle out of the jam. He gave up a walk to Jhonatan Solano to push a third run across, but after that was superb, getting the final out and following up with two shutout innings to keep the game close. However, after his tough 1st inning, Teheran did not give up another hit as he went 5 innings, then Yohan Pino followed with three innings in which he only gave up one hit. The Colombian pitchers were helped by their defense, as 3B Giovanny Urshela robbed Freeman of a double down the line as he was playing in shallow right field thanks to a defensive shift. 1B Reynaldo Rodriguez also made a great play to deny Pete Orr leading off the 8th. Colombia got an insurance run against Scott Mathieson in the top of the 9th, when the pitcher mishandled a bunt by Polo with pinch-runner Oscar Mercado on second, throwing the ball away. With two outs in the 9th, Freeman and O'Neill hit back-to-back singles, but Dayan Diaz struck out Jamie Romak, representing the potential tying run, to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	3	2	3	0	2	1	11	17	2
Italy	1	0	2	2	0	0	2	1	2	0	10	12	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Francisco Rodriguez (1-0), Loss: Trey Nielsen (0-1), Save: Jose Castillo (1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Salvador Perez (1) Italy: Alex Liddi (1), Brandon Nimmo (1)
Umpires
HP: Santos Castillo (Dominican Republic); 1B: Dan Bellino (USA); 2B: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 3B: Michael Ulloa (Spain)
Time of Game: 4:43 Attendance: 12,187

For the second straight game, Italy was involved in a high-scoring, extra-inning game, but this time they lost to Venezuela, which was in a must-win situation following its humiliating first-game trouncing by Puerto Rico. The Italians opened the game firing on all cylinders as starter Sam Gaviglio kept Venezuela off the scoreboard through the first four innings, while Italy built a quick 5-0 lead against the more-heralded Martin Perez and Bruce Rondon. Italy opened the scoring on doubles by Francisco Cervelli and Daniel Descalso in the 1st, then added a pair of runs in the 3rd when Cervelii singled, Rob Segedin doubled and Descalso singled. Alex Liddi then led off the bottom of the 4th with a solo homer, and after one out, Perez gave way to Rondon, who surrendered another solo homer, this one to Brandon Nimmo.

Venezuela finally got its bats going in the 5th when Salvador Perez led off with a double and Alcides Escobar followed one out later with a single for the team's first run of the tournament. After a second out, Tiago Da Silva replaced Gaviglio, but a stolen base, a single by Jose Altuve and a double by Martin Prado made it 5-3 before Da Silva could record the third out. The Venezuelans then tied the game in the 6th. Carlos Gonzalez and Victor Martinez led off with singles, chasing the ineffective Da Silva in favor of A.J. Morris. However, Gonzalez had been thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double, so there was only one man on base. Morris then plunked Odubel Herrera with two outs and allowed a two-run double to Escobar. The Venezuelan barrage continued in the 7th as well, with three more runs as the Venezuelans loaded the bases with nobody out against Mike DeMark and Gonzalez drove in two of these runners with a double off Tommy Layne, and the 8th run came to score on Italy's second error of the frame a couple of batters later.

Trailing 8-5 and unable to get anyone in the bullpen to get some outs, the Italians could have packed it in, but instead they drew back to within one in the bottom of the 7th as Cervelli hit a run-scoring single on which John Andreoli scored a second run on another fielding error, this one by CF Ender Inciarte. They then tied the game again in the 8th thanks to some good baserunning by Drew Butera, who walked, took second on a pop-up caught by 3B Prado in foul territory, and scored on a single by Andreoli. But Venezuela came right back with a pair of runs off switch-pitcher Pat Venditte in the 9th when Salvador Perez took him deep with Rougned Odor on second base. It was up to Francisco Rodriguez to close out the win, but he was let down by his fielders as well, as Segedin opened the frame by reaching second on an error by SS Escobar, moved to third on a ground out and scored on another ground out by Chris Colabello. The bases were empty and Italy was down to its last out, but Rodriguez choked, giving up a single to Liddi and walking Butera. Gavin Cecchini then singled to center; Inciarte threw home in a vain attempt to stop pinch-runner Drew Maggi from scoring the tying run, but his throw was wild, rolling to the backstop, where Rodriguez, backing up the play, picked up the ball. The pitcher then saw Butera trying to score as well, he relayed to C Perez, slipping and hurting his groin in the process, while Butera crashed into his Kansas City Royals teammate Perez. Butera was out, but Perez hurt his knee on the play and was out for the rest of the tournament.

In the 10th inning, Italy turned to another reliever, Trey Nielsen, and he was just as ineffective as his partners in crime had been before him, allowing Venezuela to take an 11-10 lead on a single by Altuve and a double by Prado. The job of closing out the wild game fell on minor league prospect Jose Castillo, but he was up to the task, getting Nimmo, Andreoli and Cervelli in order to secure the win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
United States	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	5	8	0
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	4	x	7	10	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Alex Colome (1-0), Loss: Andrew Miller (0-1), Save: Jeurys Familia (1)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Manny Machado (1), Nelson Cruz (1), Starling Marte (1) USA: none
Umpires
HP: Mark Wegner (USA); 1B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); 2B: Tripp Gibson (USA); 3B: Jesus Miller (Mexico)
Time of Game: 3:38 Attendance: 37,446

The United States team probably thought they had stepped into a space/time void when they entered Marlins Park to face the Dominican Republic as they found themselves in a ballpark packed to the rafters with wild, screaming Dominican fans. The crowd of over 37,000 set a record for the ballpark, and the loud, playoff-like atmosphere eventually got on the nerves of the Americans who coughed up what looked line a very comfortable lead. Marcus Stroman did an excellent job on the mound for the U.S., giving his team 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball before turning the ball over to Tanner Roark. In the meantime, the U.S. batters had got to Edinson Volquez. In the 3rd, Ian Kinsler singled with two outs, and he scored while Adam Jones reached third on an error by CF Starling Marte. Christian Yelich followed with a single, and it was 2-0. In the 4th, Brandon Crawford singled in Paul Goldschmidt to make it 3-0, and in the 6th, against Jumbo Diaz, Goldschmidt walked, Giancarlo Stanton doubled him in and Crawford doubled off Fernando Abad to make it 5-0.

Team USA appeared to be cruising to victory at that point, but Manny Machado turned the momentum in the bottom of the 6th when he hit a monster homer that almost left the park in center field. A rattled Roark then walked Robinson Cano and Jose Bautista in succession, then Carlos Santana doubled to cut the lead to 5-2. Marte led off the 7th with a single off Roark, who was replaced by David Robertson. He allowed a double to Welington Castillo to make it 5-3. Andrew Miller came in to pitch the 8th and he put himself in immediate trouble by plunking Bautista and giving up a single to Santana. Nelson Cruz followed with a homer to left, and the Dominicans were in the lead, 6-5. After a first out, Marte also drove one of Miller's pitches beyond the fence, increasing the lead to 7-5. Jeurys Familia came out to pitch the 9th and retired Jonathan Lucroy, Crawford and Kinsler in order, to clinch the Dominicans' win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Puerto Rico	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	4	9	13	1
Mexico	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	4	7	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jorge Lopez (1-0), Loss: Miguel Gonzalez (0-1)
Home Runs
Puerto Rico: Francisco Lindor 2 (2), Javier Baez (1) Mexico: none
Umpires
HP: Doug Eddings (USA); 1B: Winfried Berkvens (Netherlands); 2B: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 3B: Michael Ulloa (Spain)
Time of Game: 3:40 Attendance: 15,647

Puerto Rico turned in another solid performance to defeat host Mexico for their second win, which almost guaranteed them a spot in the next round. Starter Jorge Lopez gave up only 2 hits and 1 run in 4 1/3 innings, while his teammates scored four times in as many innings against Mexican starter Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez got a very rough greeting as the first man he faced, Angel Pagan, led off with a single and Francisco Lindor immediately followed with a homer. In the 3rd Pagan singled, stole second and scored on a single by Carlos Beltran, then in the 5th Gonzalez walked the first two batters, Reymond Fuentes and Pagan, before giving way to Jake Sanchez who gave up a sacrifice fly to Carlos Correa. Mexico's lone run to that point had come in the bottom of the 1st when Brandon Laird singled in Esteban Quiroz with two outs.

In the 7th, Lindor's second homer of the game increased Puerto Rico's lead to 5-1, but the Mexicans then showed some life. Laird led off with a double off Hector Santiago and Efren Navarro followed with a single. After one out, Chris Roberson singled in one run, then a throwing error by Correa allowed Navarro to score as well and a wild pitch by Santiago made it 5-4 as Roberson crossed the plate. That was as close as Mexico would get, however. In the 9th, Puerto Rico put the game away with four more runs after two outs when a dropped pop-up by C Xorge Carrillo opened the floodgates, allowing Beltran to reach on a walk. A single by Yadier Molina accounted for one run before a three-run homer by Javier Baez off Joakim Soria put the game away.

March 12[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Cuba	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Israel	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	x	4	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Zack Thornton (1-0), Loss: Yoanni Yera (0-2), Save: Josh Zeid (2)
Home Runs
Cuba: Alfredo Despaigne (2) Israel: none
Umpires
HP: Todd Tichenor (USA); 1B: Cory Blaser (USA); 2B: Trevor Grieve (Canada); 3B: Jens Waider (Germany)
Time of Game: 3:14 Attendance: 43,153

Israel continued its remarkable run with an upset of Cuba in the first of the second-round games played in Tokyo. With its top pitcher, major league veteran Jason Marquis, on the mound, it managed to hold the powerful Caribbeans to one run. The only blemish on Marquis' record was a solo homer by Alfredo Despaigne to lead off the second inning. Apart from that, the veteran of 15 major league seasons allowed only three hits, a walk and a hit batsman while giving his team 5 2/3 innings of work and striking out 4. He was relieved by Zack Thornton, who was just as good, giving up nothing as he took the ball until the end of the 7th.

Meanwhile, Israel had not only managed to tie the score, but had taken a lead. Cuban starter Noelvis Entenza had been solid as well, giving up only one hit in his four innings, but he also allowed three walks. In the 4th, Ike Davis drew a lead-off walk, then after a pair of strikeouts, came in to score on a double by Ryan Lavarnway, Israel's lone hit off Estanza. Yoanni Yera came in to pitch in the 5th and after starting things with a scoreless frame, got in trouble in the bottom of the 6th. Ty Kelly led off with a single and Nate Freiman drew a one-out walk. A single by Zach Borenstein put Israel ahead and a double by Blake Gailen off Jose Angel Garcia increased its lead to 3-1. In the top of the 8th, Brad Goldberg (just added to Israel's staff for the second round) put a couple of Cuban players on base, prompting Israeli manager Jerry Weinstein to call on closer Josh Zeid who walked Despaigne to load the bases but got Willian Saavedra to hit into a force play to end the inning. The Israelis then added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame as Gailen laid down a squeeze bunt with Borenstein on third base. Zeid then finished the game by striking out Yurisbel Gracial and Yordan Manduley and getting Yosvani Alarcon to ground out to short as another chapter was added to the Cinderella story.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Japan	0	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	15	0
Netherlands	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	6	12	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kazuhisa Makita (1-0), Loss: Tom Stuifbergen (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Sho Nakata (3) Netherlands: Jonathan Schoop (1), Wladimir Balentien (1)
Umpires
HP: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 1B: Larry Vanover (USA); 2B: Cory Blaser (USA); 3B: Trevor Grieve (Canada)
Time of Game: 4:46 Attendance: 44,326

Japan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands had a back-and-forth battle to start their second rounds, the games much closer than the 2013 routs by Japan in the same match-up.

Dutch skipper Hensley Meulens handed the ball to Rick van den Hurk, who had dominated the South Korean team after having starred in the KBO. Van den Hurk had also done very well in Japan's Pacific League in 2015-2016 but he had a lot more trouble with the Japanese hitters than with South Korea in round one. In the 2nd inning, 1B Sho Nakata doubled and was bunted over by SS Hayato Sakamoto. DH Tetsuto Yamada walked and stole second, then CF Shogo Akiyama hit a sacrifice fly.

The Netherlands tied it in the bottom of the 2nd when 2B Jonathan Schoop took Ayumu Ishikawa deep. In the 3ird, 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi hit a one-out single off van den Hurk and stole second, then RF Norichika Aoki singled. Van den Hurk whiffed Pool B MVP LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, but Nakata smacked a three-run dinger. Sakamoto walked, Yamada singled and Akiyama singled and Japan had a 5-1 lead for the big, boisterous home crowd. Van den Hurk had allowed 7 hits and 5 runs in 3 innings.

The lead lasted no longer than Japan's prior one-run lead, though, as it was again erased in the bottom of the inning. LF Randolph Oduber hit a one-out double and SS Andrelton Simmons singled him home. CF Jurickson Profar singled and a sacrifice fly by 3B Xander Bogaerts made it a two-run game. RF Wladimir Balentien, the other Dutch team member who had starred in NPB, delivered a two-run smash off Ishikawa to tie it.

In the 6th, Samurai Japan went ahead again. Sakamoto singled off Shairon Martis, took second on a passed ball by Dashenko Ricardo and advanced on a grounder, then came home on a hit by C Seiji Kobayashi, a light-hitting player. For the first time, the Orange did not answer in the bottom of an inning where Japan scored, but they almost did. Simmons singled off Kodai Senga and Profar doubled, bringing up the 3-4-5 hitters. Senga fanned Bogaerts and Balentien then got DH Didi Gregorius on a grounder.

The Netherlands blew another shot in the bottom of the 8th. Gregorius and Schoop singled off Naoki Miyanishi. Miyanishi struck out 1B Curt Smith and walked Ricardo to load the bases. Hirotoshi Masui relieved and fanned Oduber, then Simmons hit into a force-out to end the threat. Japan's bullpen of Yoshihisa Hirano, Senga, Yuki Matsui, Ryo Akiyoshi, Miyanishi and Masui had shut out the Netherlands from the 4th to the 8th despite those couple of close calls.

In the 9th, Hiroki Kokubo turned to Takahiro Norimoto to try to close it out. He walked Bogaerts with one out and Balentien singled. After Gregorius lined out to Aoki, Schoop singled in Bogaerts and PR Dwayne Kemp took third, putting the Dutch 90 feet from a comeback win. Norimoto got Smith, the last Baseball World Cup MVP, on a strikeout to force extra innings, however.

Kobayashi kept up his strong pace with a one-out single off Loek van Mil in the 10th, putting him at .400 in the WBC after barely topping the Mendoza Line the prior summer. PH Seiichi Uchikawa doubled. Tom Stuifbergen relieved and intentionally walked Kikuchi, then Aoki hit into an inning-ending double play. Kazuhisa Makita, the ninth Japanese hurler, went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame.

In the top of the 11th, the Schiller Rule went into play for the first time in a WBC. Backup RF Seiya Suzuki (Aoki had moved to LF) bunted the starting runners over and Nakata singled them in for a three-hit, five-RBI day. In the bottom of the 11th, Profar popped up his bunt attempt against Makita. Bogaerts hit into a force out and PH Kalian Sams popped out to end the upset bid.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
Dominican Republic	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	10	14	2
Colombia	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	6	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Enny Romero (1-0), Loss: William Cuevas (0-1)
Home Runs
Colombia: Jorge Alfaro (1) Dominican Republic: none
Umpires
HP: Tripp Gibson (USA); 1B: Jesus Miller (Mexico); 2B: Mark Wegner (USA); 3B: Edwin Hernández (Puerto Rico)
Time of Game: 4:44 Attendance: 36,952

Colombia gave the Dominican Republic quite a scare in both teams' final game in Pool C, forcing extra innings before the defending champions exploded for 7 runs in the 11th inning. The Dominicans had started strong, with Jean Segura leading off the game with a single against Colombian starter Nabil Crismatt and coming in to score on a sacrifice fly by Jose Bautista. However, Colombia tied the game right back as Reynaldo Rodriguez tripled off Wily Peralta with one out and was driven in by Giovanny Urshela's single. That would be all that Peralta would give up in 4 innings however, as he struck out 6 batters. Meanwhile, the Dominicans took a lead in the 3rd when Jonathan Villar opened the inning with a single, stole second and scored on a double by Manny Machado. With two outs, they added another run when Bautista's smash to third base went through Urshela for a run-scoring error.

Karl Triana replaced Crismatt in the third, and he and his bullpen-mates would not allow another run over the next 8 innings, four relievers combining to shun down their opponents' powerful bats. The Dominicans did put a few men on base, but some solid defense, including a pair of double plays, kept them from padding their lead. Meanwhile, Colombia got one run back in the 6th when Adrian Sanchez drew a two-out walk off Cesar Valdez and Mauricio Ramos followed with a double. Then in the 8th, the first batter to face Fernando Rodney, Jorge Alfaro, took the 40-year-old reliever deep, tying the score. In the bottom of the 9th, Hansel Robles took over on the mound and Colombia came within inches of running away with the win. Jhonatan Solano opened the inning by dropping a ball that fell off the outstretched glove of a diving Mel Rojas Jr. who had come in as a defensive replacement in right field. Jhonatan was replaced by the very fast pinch-runner Oscar Mercado while Tito Polo squared off to bunt. But Robles plunked him, putting a second runner on with no one out. Next up was Donovan Solano who hit a grounder up the middle; the Dominicans attempted to turn two, but could only get Polo at second as Mercado advanced to third base. Rodriguez was next up and he drove a line drive to left field. Bautista caught the ball on a full run, and although not known for his arm, he threw a perfect strike to C Welington Castillo who tagged out the diving Mercado on a very close play. Indeed, both Rodriguez and Polo were ejected for arguing Tripp Gibson's call a little too vehemently.

Colombia had to patch together a new defensive alignment in order to continue the game, including getting rid of the designated hitter so Mercado could play in the outfield. But they held together in the 10th as young Tayron Guerrero struck out Carlos Santana with runners on second and third. In the 11th, though, with the Schiller Rule having kicked in and the inning starting with baserunners already on first and second, the Dominicans turned up the pressure one more notch, and Colombia cracked like a walnut. Rojas first laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt against William Cuevas, advancing both runners and forcing Colombia to issue an intentional walk to Gregory Polanco and hope for a force out at the plate. But Castillo singled to drive in two runners, Villar drew a walk and Segura broke the Colombians' backs with a drive that landed behind CF Efrain Contreras, clearing the bases. Two more runs would score against two other relievers before the nightmarish inning ended, then Jeurys Familia closed things up to give the D.R. its eleventh straight WBC win. The Colombians, who had played three exceptional games, were left to pray for an upset loss by the U.S. in the final pool game to have any hope of advancing further.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Italy	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0
Puerto Rico	1	2	1	3	2	0	0	0	x	9	13	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jose Berrios (1-0), Loss: Luis Lugo (0-1)
Home Runs
Italy: John Andreoli (2), Drew Butera (2) Puerto Rico: Carlos Correa (2)
Umpires
HP: Dan Bellino (USA); 1B: Santos Castillo (Dominican Republic); 2B: Doug Eddings (USA); 3B: Winfried Berkvens (Netherlands)
Time of Game: 2:42 Attendance: 11,924

Italy briefly gave Puerto Rico a game before Puerto Rico finished the pool with a strong 3-0 run. Italy struck early against Jose Berrios as CF Brandon Nimmo walked and RF John Andreoli homered. In the bottom of the 1st, LF Ángel Pagán hit a ground-rule double off Luis Lugo and Drew Butera allowed a passed ball. With two away and another player on board, 2B Javier Báez singled in Pagán.

The Azzurri got a second homer, from Butera, with two outs in the 2nd, but Berrios allowed no more hits and walks and left after 5 innings. Hiram Burgos turned in three hitless frames, walking one, and Miguel Mejia wrapped it up in the 9th, allowing Italy's third and last hit of the day (to PH Alessandro Vaglio).

Puerto Rico's bats kept on going, though, well after Italy's went quiet. In the bottom of the 2nd, C Roberto Pérez walked, RF Mike Aviles singled and CF Kiké Hernandez singled to make it 3-2. Pagán grounded in Aviles with the tying run. The islanders went ahead for good in the 3rd. 3B Carlos Correa walked and DH Carlos Beltrán doubled him in. They loaded the bases but got no more runs that inning.

The rout got under way in the 4th. Pagán drew a walk from Jordan Romano and SS Francisco Lindor singled, then Correa went deep to make it 7-3. In the 5th, Aviles and Hernandez hit back-to-back triples off Junior Oberto and after an out, Lindor hit a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring for the day.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Marlins Park
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2
United States	3	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	X	8	11	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Danny Duffy (1-0), Loss: Ryan Dempster (0-2)
Home Runs
Canada: none USA: Nolan Arenado (1), Buster Posey (1)
Umpires
HP: Dan Iassogna (USA); 1B: Edwin Hernández (Puerto Rico); 2B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); 3B: Mark Wegner (USA)
Time of Game: 3:01 Attendance: 22,303

Canada entered its final game in Pool C with still a tiny chance of advancing to the second round in spite of its listless performance over the first two games; for the United States, a win would put them through and they lost no time in making sure that it was in the bag. Danny Duffy struck out the side in the top of the 1st, then the U.S. went to work on Ryan Dempster, making his second start in three games after coming out of retirement to play in the tournament. He just did not have enough to stop the powerful Americans, however. Ian Kinsler led off with a walk, and after Dempster retired Adam Jones on a fly to center, Christian Yelich hit a single and Nolan Arenado drew another walk to load the bases. Eric Hosmer followed with a two-run double and Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases again, ending Dempster's comeback. Andrew Albers came in to pitch, but in getting Buster Posey to ground out, he allowed a third run to score. After an intentional walk, Brandon Crawford grounded out to end the inning, but the U.S. had batted around and had a 3-0 lead. They then put the game away with 4 more runs in the 2nd, thanks to a three-run homer by Arenado and a single by Posey that scored Hosmer. The U.S. cruised the rest of the way. Duffy ended up with 7 Ks in 4 innings of work and four relievers closed the game without giving up a run. Posey completed the scoring with a solo homer off Jim Henderson in the 7th. In three games, Canada had been outscored 21-3, having never been able to overcome the absence of much of its front-line talent. Team USA, for its part, moved to the second round as expected.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Mexico	0	5	0	0	3	1	2	0	0	11	14	0
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	3	2	3	0	0	9	16	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Luis Mendoza (1-0), Loss: Yusmeiro Petit (0-1), Save: Roberto Osuna (1)
Home Runs
Mexico: Esteban Quiroz (2), Brandon Laird (1) Venezuela: Victor Martinez (1)
Umpires
HP: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 1B: Doug Eddings (USA); 2B: Michael Ulloa (Spain); 3B: Santos Castillo (Dominican Republic)
Time of Game: 4:44 Attendance: 15,489

A win by Venezuela would get them to the second round, while the host Mexicans needed to win by three or more to move into a tie-breaker with Italy; a Mexico win by two or less meant Venezuela and Italy would face off in a tie-breaker. The hosts got a mixed outcome, their first win of the tournament, but their margin of victory was not enough to avoid elimination. That meant two of the four hosts had been sent packing (South Korea, Mexico) and another host (the USA) had edged its way in thanks to its one-run win over Colombia, while only Japan went unbeaten as a host nation.

Mexico pounded Yusmeiro Petit in the 2nd. 3B Brandon Laird walked, CF Alex Verdugo singled and DH Japhet Amador doubled for a 1-0 lead. LF Efren Navarro walked and SS Luis Cruz hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 edge. After an out, 5' 7" leadoff man/2B Esteban Quiroz hit one over the right-field wall to make it 5-0.

Venezuela got to Mexican starter Luis Mendoza in the bottom of the 3rd. C Robinson Chirinos walked and both 2B José Altuve and 3B Martin Prado singled for a 5-1 game. In the 5th, Mexico pulled further ahead. Quiroz drew a walk from Wil Ledezma and with one out, 1B Adrián González singled. Laird then launched a three-run bomb and Mexico's hopes of staying alive looked pretty swell.

SS Alcides Escobar doubled in the bottom of the 5th to chase Mendoza and CF Ender Inciarte greeted reliever Carlos Torres with a double to make it 8-2. With two outs, Prado hit a run-scoring double and 1B Miguel Cabrera singled him in and it was now 8-4. Mexico got some payback in the 6th. Deolis Guerra walked C Xorge Carrillo and was replaced by Bruce Rondon. Quiroz singled, 2B Luis Urias hit into a force out and González hit a sac fly for a 9-4 edge.

Venezuela continued its comeback in the bottom of the 6th. DH Víctor Martínez singled, Escobar had a one-out single and Chirinos and Altuve both had two-out RBI singles; Mexico's lead was down to three, the bare minimum to stay alive. In the top of the 7th, Verdugo (now playing RF, Quiroz having left for a pinch-runner) singled off Jose Castillo. With two away, Gregory Infante relieved and walked Cruz and Carrillo. New CF Chris Roberson singled in two runs and Mexico had a little more breathing room.

In the bottom of the 7th, though, Venezuela stormed back once more. RF Carlos González singled off Sergio Romo and Martínez homered to again make it a three-run contest, 11-8. PH Rougned Odor singled, as did Escobar for the fourth straight hit by the South Americans. Mexican skipper Edgar González replaced Romo with Jake Sanchez, the 2016-2017 Mexican Pacific League Reliever of the Year. Inciarte greeted him with a bunt hit to load the bases. Chirinos got plunked with the run that put Venezuela in position to play another day this tournament. There were still no outs, but Altuve grounded to Laird, who fired home for the force, and Prado hit into a double play.

Mexico still had a shot, needing to score at least one more run while allowing no more. Robert Suárez came in to face Adrián González and retired Mexico's big star, then Jose Alvarez relieved and retired slugger Laird and Verdugo, who had four runs and four RBI between them to that point today. In the bottom of the inning, Sanchez walked Cabrera but Oliver Pérez relieved and got Carlos González to hit into a double play, then retired Martínez.

Mexico was now down to their last at-bats, needing one more run at least. Amador and PH Luis Juárez both singled off Alvarez and it looked like they had a good shot, but Alvarez got Cruz, Carrillo and Roberson all on flies. In the bottom of the 9th, Mexico was now playing for the pride of a win at home, if no longer a second-round hope, while Venezuela was hoping to punch a ticket direct for round two rather than needing to win an additional game against Italy.

Pérez retired Odor and Roberto Osuna came in, hoping for a better performance than against Italy. Escobar singled for his fourth hit and Inciarte drew a full-count walk. Edgar González came out to argue the last ball and was ejected by umpire Quinn Wolcott. Osuna recovered to fan Chirinos, then Altuve hit one to Verdugo to end the wild game.

Mexico filed a protest after the game, saying the rules on the tiebreaker were unclear in terms of qualified innings, but the protest was not accepted by WBC officials.

March 13[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Netherlands	0	2	4	4	0	0	0	2	x	12	15	1
Israel	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	x	2	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jair Jurrjens (1-0), Loss: Corey Baker (1-1)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Didi Gregorius (1) Israel: Nate Freiman (2)
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 2B: Todd Tichenor (USA); 3B: Jens Waider (Germany)
Time of Game: 3:04 Attendance: 5,017

Israel had won a meaningless match between the teams in round one, when both had already punched their tickets for the second round. Today, the outcome was vastly different. For the first time in five games, Israel did not get a good start from its pitcher. Corey Baker allowed two runs in the 2nd and two more in the 3rd, when he left without getting an out, and the bullpen provided little relief. Meanwhile, Jair Jurrjens allowed only one run in six innings, on a homer by 1B Nate Freiman.

DH Didi Gregorius hit a three-run homer off Danny Burawa, a RBI double off Jeremy Bleich and a sacrifice fly off Jake Kalish, and scored three times. Also having a big day was RF Wladimir Balentien, who was 3 for 4 with a walk, three runs and three RBI. SS Andrelton Simmons and 1B Yurendell de Caster each rapped three hits for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in a much-needed win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Estadio Charros de Jalisco
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	4	5	0
Italy	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	7	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: José Alvarado (1-0), Loss: Mike DeMark (0-1), Save: Francísco Rodriguez (1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Miguel Cabrera (1) Italy: John Andreoli (3), Alex Liddi (2)
Umpires
HP: Doug Eddings (USA); 1B: Dan Bellino (USA); 2B: Santos Castillo (Dominican Republic); 3B: Michael Ulloa (Spain)
Time of Game: 3:26 Attendance: 1,783

With the hosts out, there was not a huge crowd for the tie-breaker to determine the 8th team to advance to the second round. Venezuela-Italy once again went down to the final inning, Venezuela again pulling out a one-run win as they had done a couple of days prior. This time, instead of a 11-10 slugfest, it was a more mainstream 4-3 affair.

Italy got on the board quickly off Omar Bencomo. CF John Andreoli hit a ground-rule double and 2B Daniel Descalso singled him in. A.J. Morris, on the other hand, turned in five no-hit innings for the Azzurri, walking only one. Trey Nielsen took over in the 6th and walked free-swinging SS Alcides Escobar, then LF Odubel Herrera hit into an error by Descalso. C Robinson Chirinos grounded to 3B Alex Liddi for a force at third, then CF Ender Inciarte singled to plate Escobar and tie the game.

After the first two batters, Bencomo had tossed three shutout innings and Deolis Guerra added 2 2/3 more; José Alvarado followed with 1 1/3 scoreless frames. In the bottom of the 7th, Italy retook the lead when Andreoli took Alvarado deep for his third home run of the Classic. Meanwhile, Italy had gotten some relief from Pat Venditte (2/3 IP), who succeeded Nielsen, Tommy Layne (scoreless 7th) and Tiago Da Silva (a shutout 8th) so they led 2-1 entering the 9th, hoping to send Venezuela packing.

Italy turned to Mike DeMark to close it out; he had over 80 games in AAA and had a 0.76 ERA in the independent leagues in 2016. That mattered little to Venezuelan star 1B Miguel Cabrera, who smacked one over the right-field wall as the first batter of the inning. It was his first homer of the 2017 WBC but his 6th in WBC history, tying him for second all-time with Frederich Cepeda and Nate Freiman (including WBC qualifiers), behind only Alfredo Despaigne. DH Víctor Martínez drew a four-pitch walk and Yangervis Solarte pinch-ran. 2B Rouglas Odor hit a ball that was originally called a home run, but reduced to a single upon video review. It was enough to bring in Solarte, however, and suddenly, Venezuela was ahead. Frailyn Florian took over for DeMark and the veteran allowed a single to RF Carlos González, but he was thrown out by LF Drew Maggi in trying to stretch it to a double. although Odor advanced to third. Escobar then laid down a squeeze bunt to score Odor with what would be a critical run, putting Venezuela ahead, 4-2.

In the bottom of the 9th, Venezuela brought in six-time All-Star Francísco Rodriguez, who had beat Italy two days earlier. Things did not go off without a hitch for the far more established closer, though. 3B Alex Liddi greeted him with a home run and it was suddenly a one-run game. Rodriguez recovered to get SS Gavin Cecchini, Maggi and Andreoli on grounders as Venezuela escaped to play another day.

March 14[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Cuba	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	5	10	1
Japan	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	3	X	8	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Ryo Akiyoshi (1-0), Loss: Miguel Lahera (0-1), Save: Kazuhisa Makita (1)
Home Runs
Cuba: Yurisbel Gracial (1) Japan: Tetsuto Yamada 2 (2)
Umpires
HP: Larry Vanover (USA); 1B: Trevor Grieve (Canada); 2B: Jens Waider (Germany); 3B: Todd Tichenor (USA)
Time of Game: 3:25 Attendance: 32,717

Cuba gave Japan a scare but fell late to go to 0-2 in the second round. Japan started things in the 1st with a leadoff homer by DH Tetsuto Yamada off Vladimir Baños. Cuba struck back in the 2nd. LF Alfredo Despaigne singled against Tomoyuki Sugano and 2B Yurisbel Gracial went yard for a 2-1 lead. Yamada again got Japan going in the 3rd, doubling off Baños, advancing on a grounder by 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi and coming home on a two-out single by LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, who had a 3-for-3 day.

Cuba retook the lead in the 4th. Despaigne singled then 1B Willian Saavedra and C Yosvani Alarcón hit one-out singles. With two away, RF and #9 hitter Víctor Victor Mesa singled in Despaigne and Saavedra, but Alarcón was thrown out headed for third. The trend of the teams scoring in alternate innings continued in the 5th. C Seiji Kobayashi singled and Yamada drew a four-pitch walk. Yoannis Yera relieved Baños and Kikuchi laid down a sacrifice bunt. RF Norichika Aoki grounded home Kobayashi and Tsutsugo singled in Yamada to tie it at four, Yamada scoring his third run of the day.

With one out in the top of the 6th, Gracial connected for a double off Hirotoshi Masui. With two away, an Alarcón single put Cuba ahead again, 5-4. This time, Japan did not wait for an odd-numbered inning to score. With one out, Yera fanned 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda but Matsuda took first on the strike-three wild pitch, then advanced on another wild pitch. After CF Shogo Akiyama walked. Kobayashi singled in Matsuda to make it 5-5.

Japan's bullpen then delivered as Yuki Matsui, Ryo Akiyoshi and Kazuhisa Makita each turned in a scoreless inning, only one hit and no walks allowed between the trio. Miguel Lahera pitched a scoreless 7th for Cuba but ran into trouble in the 8th. Matsuda again reached on a Cuban gaffe with one out, this time a Saavedra error. Akiyama singled him to third and a sacrifice fly by PH Seiichi Uchikawa put Japan ahead. Yamada then tacked on insurance with a two-run jack, giving him 4 runs and 3 RBI on the day.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
Dominican Republic	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1
Puerto Rico	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	X	3	6	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Hector Santiago (1-0), Loss: Carlos Martinez (0-1), Save: Edwin Diaz (1)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Nelson Cruz (1) Puerto Rico: Yadier Molina (1)
Umpires
HP: Will Little (USA); 1B: Tom Hallion (USA); 2B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); 3B: Byung-joo Kim (South Korea)
Time of Game: 3:16 Attendance: 16,637

In a rematch of the 2013 finale, the Puerto Ricans give the Dominicans some payback. It was the first Dominican loss in a WBC since 2009. Puerto Rico went with 38-year-old Orlando Román on the hill and he seemed rusty at first. DH Jean Segura singled, SS Manny Machado doubled and 2B Robinson Canó walked as the Dominicans seemed to be boasting their usual high-power attack. Román, though, whiffed LF Jose Bautista. 1B Carlos Santana lined to LF Eddie Rosario, who fired home to nab the speedy Segura for a fine double play as Román escaped without giving up a run. In the bottom of the 1st, Puerto Rico got to Carlos Martinez on one-out walks to SS Francisco Lindor and 3B Carlos Correa and a two-out RBI single by C Yadier Molina, Martinez's battery mate with St. Louis.

RF Nelson Cruz homered to lead off the 2nd, tying the score, but the Dominicans would be held to three hits and no runs the rest of the way (though they did draw five walks), shut out by Román, Hector Santiago (2 2/3 IP), Joe Jiménez (1 IP), Joseph Colón (1 2/3 IP) and Edwin Diaz (1 1/3 IP). In the 4th, 2B Javier Báez hit into a two-base error by 3B Adrián Beltre, who was playing the field for the first time in the tournament, and Rosario again delivered, this time on offense, with a ground-rule double. Molina added a solo shot off Hector Neris in the 6th for the final margin of victory.

March 15[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Netherlands	3	1	3	5	1	0	1	x	x	14	13	0
Cuba	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	x	x	1	5	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Diegomar Markwell (1-0), Loss: Lazaro Blanco (0-1)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Wladimir Balentien 2 (3), Yurendell de Caster (1), Kalian Sams (1) Cuba: none
Umpires
HP: Todd Tichenor (USA); 1B: Trevor Grieve (Canada); 2B: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 3B: Larry Vanover (USA)
Time of Game: 2:19 Attendance: 40,680

For the second straight Classic, the Netherlands topped Cuba to move into the Final Four. This time, it was a cruise as Cuban ace Lazaro Blanco was hammered for four runs in 1 2/3 IP and four relievers fared little better. Meanwhile, 36-year-old Diegomar Markwell (in his fourth Classic) turned in a gem, allowing only four hits and one run while walking none in six innings, while Shairon Martis closed it out with a scoreless 7th. Cuba's lone run came when RF Víctor Victor Mesa drove in 1B Willian Saavedra (who had two of their five hits), but the Netherlands led 13-0 by that point. CF Jurickson Profar was 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBI, 1B Yurendell de Caster homered and drove in four and LF Kalian Sams went yard, but the big star was RF Wladimir Balentien, who went 3 for 4 with two home runs, three runs and five RBI for the Tokyo fan base he had been pleasing for years.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	5	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	3	x	8	13	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Yoshihisa Hirano (1-0), Loss: Dylan Axelrod (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh (3) Israel: none
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Larry Vanover (USA); 2B: Trevor Grieve (Canada); 3B: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic)
Time of Game: 3:28 Attendance: 43,179

Israel had used Jason Marquis and Corey Baker to start their first five games; now, the team had to find a third starting option. Jerry Weinstein went with closer Josh Zeid and he did very well, stopping the potent Japanese attack for four shutout innings (4 H, 2 BB, 3 K), while Kodai Senga allowed only one hit (to CF Sam Fuld) and one walk in five shutout innings. After a shutout 5th by Dylan Axelrod, Japan stormed back in the 6th. LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugo homered for his third dinger in six games, 1B Seiichi Uchikawa walked and SS Hayato Sakamoto singled him to third. Zack Thornton relieved and got RF Seiya Suzuki to ground to 3B Ty Kelly, who started a run-down to nab Uchikawa. 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda then doubled in a run and C Seiji Kobayashi singled in another, taking second on the throw. DH Tetsuto Yamada was intentionally walked and 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi singled in a run. Israel next tried Alex Katz, who hit CF Norichika Aoki to force in a run. Tsutsugo struck out and Brad Goldberg whiffed Uchikawa but the game was now well in Japan's hand, as it led 5-0.

In the 8th, Japan expanded its lead. Aoki hit a one-out double off Tyler Herron, Tsutsugo was intentionally walked and Uchikawa smacked a two-run double. After Sakamoto walked, Jared Lakind became the seventh Israeli hurler and struck out Suzuki, but Matsuda singled to center to score the final run. Yoshihisa Hirano, Naoki Miyanishi and Ryo Akiyoshi had pitched shutout ball from the 6th to the 8th. Israel avoided a whitewash with some offense in the 9th. Fuld drew a leadoff walk from Kazuhisa Makita, Kelly singled and DH Ike Davis singled in Fuld. With one out, Makita made an error on a grounder by RF Zach Borenstein then C Ryan Lavarnway doubled in two for Israel's last runs of a surprising first Classic. Japan punched their tickets to the semifinals for the fourth straight Classic, the only team to do so.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	2
United States	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	x	4	11	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Pat Neshek (1-0), Loss: Hector Rondon (0-1), Save: Luke Gregerson (1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Rougned Odor (1) United States: Adam Jones (1), Eric Hosmer (1)
Umpires
HP: Hunter Wendelstedt (USA); 1B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); 2B: Tom Hallion (USA); 3B: Masanobu Sasaki (Japan)
Time of Game: 3:13 Attendance: 16,635

The US faced a strong test from Venezuela but rallied late. Félix Hernández gave Venezuela its strongest start yet, allowing only three singles in five shutout innings. Drew Smyly also was very sharp, whiffing eight in 4 2/3 IP. In the top of the 3rd, RF Carlos González singled. C Robinson Chirinos laid down a bunt and Smyly made an error on the play putting runners on second and third, then CF Ender Inciarte hit a sacrifice fly. Smyly then retired the next two batters with Chironos unable to advance further and Venezuela had wasted a chance to put up a big inning. That was the game's lone run until the top of the 7th, when 3B Rougned Odor, who had had a homer taken away by a video review at a critical juncture in a do-or-die game against Italy the day before, homered off David Robertson.

The US began their comeback in the bottom of the 7th. 1B Eric Hosmer singled off Jose Castillo. Arcenio León relieved and DH Paul Goldschmidt hit into an error by Odor. After an out, C Jonathan Lucroy hit a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game. In the bottom of the 8th, the US continued their comeback, this time by using the long ball. CF Adam Jones took Héctor Rondon deep, then LF Christian Yelich singled. With one out, Hosmer homered to put the US ahead for good. They loaded the bases but Bruce Rondon took over for his namesake and fanned 2B Ian Kinsler. Luke Gregerson walked 1B Miguel Cabrera with one out in the top of the 9th but got DH Víctor Martínez to hit into a game-ending double play.

March 16[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	x	3	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Fernando Abad (1-0), Loss: Jhoulys Chacin (0-1), Save: Jeurys Familia (2)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Gregory Polanco (1), Nelson Cruz (2) Venezuela: none
Umpires
HP: Tom Hallion (USA); 1B: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); 2B: Hunter Wendelstedt (USA); 3B: Masanobu Sasaki (Japan)
Time of Game: 4:05 Attendance: 16,390

The Dominicans got back on track thanks to a fine pitching performance from Edinson Volquez (4 H, 2 BB, 6 K in 4 1/3 IP) and five relievers (Fernando Abad, Hansel Robles, Dellin Betances, Alex Colome and Jeurys Familia), who teamed up on a shutout. They were aided by strong defense from 3B Manny Machado, who robbed 1B Miguel Cabrera and SS Alcides Escobar of hits.

Jhoulys Chacin matched Volquez for four innings but allowed a 5th-inning homer to LF Gregory Polanco. In the 7th, the Dominicans got insurance. Polanco singled off Jose Castillo and C Welington Castillo hit into a force out. With two outs, Machado walked and 2B Robinson Canó singled in a run. In the bottom of the 8th, DH Nelson Cruz took Arcenio León deep for the last run. Venezuela threatened in the 9th. Jeurys Familia began by fanning DH Víctor Martínez and RF Carlos González, but 3B José Altuve and LF Yangervis Solarte both singled to bring up Escobar as the potential tying run. Familia recovered to strike him out as well and preserve the shutout and win.

March 17[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
United States	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	5	7	2
Puerto Rico	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	6	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Seth Lugo (2-0), Loss: Marcus Stroman (0-1), Save: Edwin Diaz (2)
Home Runs
United States: Buster Posey (1), Adam Jones (2) Puerto Rico: none
Umpires
HP: Will Little (USA); 1B: Hunter Wendelstedt (USA); 2B: Masanobu Sasaki (Japan); 3B: Edgar Estivison (Panama)
Time of Game: 3:09 Attendance: 32,463

Puerto Rico continued its unbeaten run in this year's tournament, defeating the United States to ensure its place in the final round. The islanders did not waste any time in this game, as the first six batters who faced Marcus Stroman all hit singles: Angel Pagan, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina and Javier Baez. Eddie Rosario then hit a sacrifice fly, but Molina was also caught going from second to third on the play for two outs, and T.J. Rivera flew out to end the nightmarish inning with the U.S. now down 4-0. Prior to this game, the US starting pitchers had not allowed an earned run in four games. The Americans managed to whittle away the lead slowly. In the 2nd, Nolan Arenado led off with a double against Seth Lugo and scored on a single by Eric Hosmer; they then got solo homers from Buster Posey, who connected off Lugo to lead off the 5th, and Adam Jones who did so with one out in the 6th.

After his 1st-inning woes, Stroman did not give up much else until two outs in the 5th, when Mychal Givens relieved him to end the inning. However, with its lead cut to 4-3 in the bottom of the 6th, Puerto Rico went to work again. Givens hit the first batter of the inning, Baez, with a pitch, and the youngster then stole second. Andrew Miller came in to pitch, but he issued a walk to Rosario, which was charged to Givens. Miller struck out the next two batters but on a ground ball by Pagan, 3B Arenado committed a costly throwing error which allowed both runners to score. The lead was now 6-3. Alex Claudio and Joseph Colon retired the U.S. scorelessly in the 7th and 8th respectively, setting up young fireballer Edwin Diaz to close out the win. It was a little more complicated than expected, as he started off by walking Arenado and giving up a single to Hosmer. He struck out Posey for the first out but then threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners before striking out Paul Goldschmidt for out number two. Brandon Crawford then hit a triple to left, and the score was now 6-5 with the tying run 90 feet away. But Diaz was not fazed, as he struck out Josh Harrison to end the game.

March 18[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
Puerto Rico	1	0	1	0	1	2	5	1	2	13	17	0
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jose De Leon (1-0), Loss: Martin Perez (0-1)
Home Runs
Puerto Rico: Kennys Vargas (1) Venezuela: Rougned Odor (2)
Umpires
HP: Hunter Wendelstedt (USA); 1B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); 2B: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); 3B: Will Little (USA)
Time of Game: 3:24 Attendance: 20,778

Puerto Rico joined fellow 2013 semifinalists Japan and the Netherlands with a romp to go 6-0 in the first two rounds. Martín Pérez and five relievers did little to stop the Puerto Rican attack, which banged out 17 hits, drew 8 walks and scored 13 runs. The pace was set when LF Ángel Pagán opened the game with a double, SS Kiké Hernandez singled and 3B Carlos Correa walked. After an out, 2B T.J. Rivera grounded in a run. Correa and DH Kennys Vargas each scored three, Pagán had three hits and RF Mike Aviles had four hits and three RBI. Meanwhile, Jose De Leon struck out five in 2 2/3 shutout innings and Giovanni Soto tossed 2 1/3 shutout, hitless, walkless frames. Venezuela got their lone runs when 2B Rougned Odor hit a two-run homer off Hiram Burgos but Emilio Pagán and 40-year-old J.C. Romero closed it out with a perfect 8th and 9th, respectively.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Petco Park
United States	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	6	8	1
Dominican Republic	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Danny Duffy (2-0), Loss: Ervin Santana (0-1), Save: Luke Gregerson (2)
Home Runs
United States: Giancarlo Stanton (1) Dominican Republic: Robinson Cano (1)
Umpires
HP: Bill Miller (USA); 1B: Will Little (USA); 2B: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); 3B: Masanobu Sasaki (Japan)
Time of Game: 3:40 Attendance: 43,002

The last spot in the semifinals came down to two of the most prominent baseball-playing countries, the top two when it comes to major leaguers. The Dominicans had won the 2013 Classic and topped the USA in round one thanks to a comeback, but the US got payback when it mattered most, with a comeback win of their own to advance to the Final Four for only the second time in a run of disappointing Classic performances.

The Dominicans got to the US quickly. In the bottom of the 1st, 3B Manny Machado hit into an error by SS Brandon Crawford. 2B Robinson Canó doubled off Danny Duffy to score Machado. Duffy fanned RF Nelson Cruz but threw a strike-three wild pitch to let him reach, then 1B Carlos Santana singled home Canó. In the 3rd, the US struck back against Ervin Santana. DH Giancarlo Stanton singled and C Jonathan Lucroy singled him to third. 2B Ian Kinsler hit into a run-scoring force out. With two away, LF Christian Yelich doubled in Kinsler to tie it.

Crawford had a two-out single in the 4th off Santana and Stanton followed with a long bomb, measured at 424', to put the US ahead for good. In the 7th, Machado hit a shot over the wall but was robbed of a homer by CF Adam Jones, his Orioles teammate, who made a crucial leaping snare. 2013 MVP Canó followed with a dinger off Tyler Clippard to make it a one-run game. The US got insurance in the 8th, though. Yelich drew a walk from Alex Colome, who plunked 1B Eric Hosmer with one out. RF Andrew McCutchen then smacked a two-run double to build the US lead to three. Sam Dyson and Luke Gregerson sent down the last 8 Dominican hitters, shutting down their powerful attack in a key stretch to seal the win. LF Gregory Polanco finished 3-for-4 in a losing cause.

March 20[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
at Dodger Stadium
Netherlands	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	11	0
Puerto Rico	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	12	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Edwin Diaz (1-0), Loss: Loek van Mil (0-1)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Wladimir Balentien (4) Puerto Rico: Carlos Correa (3), T.J. Rivera (2)
Umpires
HP: Lance Barksdale (USA); 1B: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); 2B: Rob Drake (USA); 3B: Eric Cooper (USA); LF: Edgar Estivison (Panama); RF: Trevor Grieve (Canada)
Time of Game: 4:19 Attendance: 24,865

The first semifinal game was an exciting, extra-inning affair. Both teams exploded early, then the game settled into a long pitching duel. The Kingdom of the Netherlands got two runs in the top of the 1st but could easily have scored more. SS Andrelton Simmons singled off Jorge López and 3B Xander Bogaerts was plunked, but Simmons was caught stealing third. CF Jurickson Profar singled but was out trying to extend it to two. RF Wladimir Balentien then delivered a two-run homer for the first of his three hits, giving him the 2017 WBC lead with four home runs. Had there not been the two outs on the bases, the Dutch would have been up 4-0. López only lasted 2 2/3 IP.

Rick van den Hurk also was roughed up early. In the bottom of the 1st, SS Francisco Lindor hit a one-out double, the first of his three hits, and 3B Carlos Correa launched a home run. When 1B T.J. Rivera took van den Hurk deep in the 2nd, Puerto Rico was ahead 3-2. Jair Jurrjens allowed four hits and one walk in 2 1/3 innings but no runs after relieving van den Hurk and he was followed by scoreless relief from Shairon Martis (1 2/3 IP), Tom Stuifbergen (2 IP) and Kenley Jansen (1 IP), Jansen having just joined the team for the finals.

In the top of the 5th, the Netherlands again scored but again blew a chance for more. Balentien hit a two-out double off Hector Santiago and 2B Jonathan Schoop was intentionally walked. C Shawn Zarraga doubled in Balentien, but Schoop was gunned down at home on a relay from LF Ángel Pagán to 2B Javier Báez to C Yadier Molina. The throw from Báez was timed at 89.6 mph; only two second basemen were timed with faster throws on assists in all of 2016. Alex Claudio and Joseph Colón combined for shutout relief from the 7th through the 9th. Edwin Diaz went 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, fanning both Profar and Schoop. In the bottom of the 10th, 7' 1" Loek van Mil gave a single to Lindor but got Correa to hit into a double play in also posting a 1-2-3 inning.

The Schiller Rule went into effect in the top of the 11th. PH Stijn van der Meer did his job, bunting both starting runners over, then 1B Yurendell de Caster was intentionally walked. DH Curt Smith, playing in place of the injured Didi Gregorius, hit into a 4-6-3 double play and the Dutch were unable to score. It would cost them dearly in the bottom of the inning, as Molina laid down his sacrifice and van Mil intentionally walked Báez to try to set up a DP of their own. However, RF Eddie Rosario came through with a sacrifice fly to score Correa with the winner, sending Puerto Rico to their second straight finals and the Netherlands packing in the semifinals for the second straight Classic.

March 21[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Dodger Stadium
United States	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	6	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Sam Dyson (1-0), Loss: Kodai Senga (1-1), Save: Luke Gregerson (3)
Home Runs
USA: None Japan: Ryosuke Kikuchi (1)
Umpires
HP: Rob Drake (USA); 1B: Eric Cooper (USA); 2B: Trevor Grieve (Canada); 3B: Edgar Estivison (Panama); LF: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); RF: Lance Barksdale (USA)
Time of Game: 3:12 Attendance: 33,462

The second semifinal was also a dramatic affair, a one-run match just like the first semifinal. Two-time champion Japan was knocked out in the semifinals for the second straight Classic, while the US punched their ticket to the finals for the first time.

Played in rainy conditions that hampered the fielders, the game was a fine pitching duel. Tomoyuki Sugano faced one more than the minimum in the first three while Tanner Roark had faced 11 hitters. In the top of the 4th, LF Christian Yelich hit into a one-out error by 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi, winner of four straight Gold Gloves. With two outs, Sugano walked 1B Eric Hosmer and RF Andrew McCutchen singled in Yelich.

After a 1-2-3 4th, Roark was replaced by Nate Jones due to pitch count rules. Both pitchers had 1-2-3 innings in the 5th and Sugano again faced the minimum in the top of the 6th. With one out in the bottom of the 6th, Kikuchi redeemed himself by taking Jones deep. Andrew Miller relieved and walked RF Norichika Aoki but retired sluggers Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Sho Nakata to keep it even.

Sugano left after six, having allowed only three hits, a walk and an unearned run while fanning six. Kodai Senga took over and fanned the side - Hosmer, McCutchen and C Buster Posey. Sam Dyson got three ground-outs in a row in the bottom of the 7th. In the 8th, SS Brandon Crawford singled with one out and 2B Ian Kinsler doubled. CF Adam Jones grounded to 3B Nobuhiro Matsuda, who bobbled the ball, letting Crawford make it home safely; Matsuda threw out Jones at first but the US now led, 2-1. Senga fanned Yelich to escape further harm.

Mark Melancon entered in the bottom of the 8th and allowed a single to PH Seiichi Uchikawa. DH Tetsuto Yamada bunted him over and Melancon struck out Kikuchi but walked Aoki to put the potential go-ahead run aboard. Pat Neshek relieved to face Pool B MVP Tsutsugo, who lined out to McCutchen. In the top of the 9th, Yoshihisa Hirano struck out 3B Nolan Arenado; the US cleanup man fanned all four times today. Naoki Miyanishi came in and surrendered a ground-rule double to Hosmer. Ryo Akiyoshi was the next hurler and got two former MVPs, McCutchen and Posey, to keep Japan within one.

In the bottom of the 9th, Jim Leyland turned to closer Luke Gregerson, his sixth hurler of the day. Nakata and SS Hayato Sakamoto grounded out, then Matsuda went down swinging to end the game.

March 22[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Dodger Stadium
United States	0	0	2	0	2	0	3	1	0	8	13	0
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Marcus Stroman (1-1), Loss: Seth Lugo (2-1)
Home Runs
United States: Ian Kinsler (1) Puerto Rico: none
Umpires
HP: Eric Cooper (USA); 1B: Lance Barksdale (USA); 2B: Rob Drake (USA); 3B: Byung-ju Kim (South Korea); LF: Edgar Estivison (Panama); RF: Trevor Grieve (Canada)
Time of Game: 3:30 Attendance: 51,565

The starting pitchers for the finale were Marcus Stroman and Seth Lugo, the same pitchers who had faced one another in the second-round match-up between the two teams. If Lugo and Puerto Rico had won the initial match-up, contributing to Puerto Rico's unbeaten run thus far, the United States completely dominated the finals, winning 8-0. The game was scoreless for two innings, but in the top of the 3rd, Jonathan Lucroy singled and Ian Kinsler followed with a long ball, putting the Americans ahead to stay. They added a pair of runs in the 5th when Kinsler led off with a single, Adam Jones drew a walk and Christian Yelich followed with a run-scoring single that chased Lugo. Reliever Joe Jimenez got a couple of force outs on ground balls, but Andrew McCutchen also singled, scoring Yelich, and it was 4-0.

For his part, Stroman was absolutely outstanding, giving up one hit - a double by Angel Pagan - and one walk in six scoreless innings. The hit actually came in the bottom of the 7th, after Jim Leyland had decided to bring Stroman back after six hitless innings. He was succeeded by three relievers who pitched one inning each and were just as stingy: Sam Dyson, Pat Neshek and David Robertson. Dyson extended his string of consecutive batters retired in the tournament to 18, stranding Pagan on third base. Neshek and Robertson gave up two singles and two walks between them but prevented Puerto Rico from mounting any kind of comeback. The U.S. put the game away in the 7th with three more runs after loading the bases with two outs. Brandon Crawford and Giancarlo Stanton both hit singles, driving in all three runners. Another run came to score in the 8th, McCutchen driving in Nolan Arenado with a single, but it was just piling on by that point. Puerto Rico went down quietly in its last two turns at bat and the United States were champions for the first time. Stroman was named MVP of the tournament.

Awards[edit]

Pool A MVP: Ryan Lavarnway, Israel C
Pool B MVP: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Japan LF
Pool C MVP: Manny Machado, Dominican Republic 3B
Pool D MVP: Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico SS

Pool E MVP: Wladimir Balentien, Netherlands RF
Pool F MVP: Yadier Molina, Puerto Rico C

Tournament MVP: Marcus Stroman, USA P

All-Tournament Team[edit]

P Marcus Stroman, USA (1-1, 2.35)
P Kodai Senga, Japan (1-1, 0.82, 16 K, 1 BB in 11 IP)
P Josh Zeid, Israel (1-0, 2 Sv, 0.00, 10 K in 10 IP)
C Yadier Molina, Puerto Rico (.333/.333/.500, 6 RBI in 6 G)
1B Eric Hosmer, USA (.385/.484/.615)
2B Javier Baez, Puerto Rico (.296/.345/.483, 4 SB)
3B Carlos Correa, Puerto Rico (.333/.500/.750, 3 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI in 8 G)
SS Francisco Lindor, Puerto Rico (.370/.419/.630, 7 R in 7 G)
OF Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rico (.439/.519/.478)
OF Gregory Polanco, Dominican Republic (.579/.619/.842)
OF Christian Yelich, USA (.310/.375/.448, 7 R in 8 G)
DH Wladimir Balentien, Netherlands (.615/.677/1.115, 4 HR, 10 R, 12 RBI in 7 G)

Statistics[edit]

Batting Leaders[edit]

A minimum 2.7 plate appearances/game needed to qualify for rate stats

At Bats

Adam Jones, USA - 35
Ángel Pagán, PRI - 35
Andrelton Simmons, NLD - 32
Nolan Arenado, USA - 31
Ian Kinsler, USA - 30
Ryosuke Kikuchi, JPN - 30

Hits

Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 16
Jurickson Profar, NLD - 13
Andrelton Simmons, NLD - 11
Gregory Polanco, DOM - 11
7 tied with 10

Runs

Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 10
Carlos Correa, PRI - 10
Nobuhiro Matsuda, JPN - 8
Nate Freiman, ISR - 7
Francisco Lindor, PRI - 7
Christian Yelich, USA - 7

Doubles

Jurickson Profar, NLD - 5
Yurisbel Gracial, CUB - 4
Didi Gregorius, NLD - 4
Christian Yelich, USA - 4
9 tied with 3

Home Runs

Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 4
John Andreoli, ITA - 3
Alfredo Despaigne, CUB - 3
Nelson Cruz, DOM - 3
Sho Nakata, JPN - 3
Carlos Correa, PRI - 3
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, JPN - 3

Runs Batted In

Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 12
Carlos Correa, PRI - 9
Sho Nakata, JPN - 8
Didi Gregorius, NLD - 8
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, JPN - 8

Total Bases

Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 29
Jurickson Profar, NLD - 21
Carlos Correa, PRI - 18
Alfredo Despaigne, CUB - 18
4 tied with 17

Strikeouts

Nolan Arenado, USA - 11
Giancarlo Stanton, USA - 10
John Andreoli, ITA - 8
Víctor Martínez, VEN - 8
Zach Borenstein, ISR - 8
Christian Yelich, USA - 8

Stolen Bases

Javier Báez, PRI - 4
Yurisbel Gracial, CUB - 3
Tetsuto Yamada, JPN - 3
Carlos Correa, PRI - 2
Dalton Pompey, CAN - 2
Eddie Rosario, PRI - 2
Kosuke Tanaka, JPN - 2

Batting Average

Esteban Quiroz, MEX - .667
Wladimir Balentien, NLD - .615
Gregory Polanco, DOM - .579
Kun-Sheng Lin, TPE - .571
Allan de San Miguel, AUS - .556

Note - Mike Aviles hit .600 for Puerto Rico with more at-bats than Lin or de San Miguel but did not qualify as Puerto Rico played more games, putting him under the PA/G cut-off

On-Base Percentage

Esteban Quiroz, MEX - .800
Wladimir Balentien, NLD - .667
Allan de San Miguel, AUS - .636
Kun-Sheng Lin, TPE - .625
Jae-ho Kim, KOR - .625

Note - Aviles had a .636 OBP

Slugging Percentage

Esteban Quiroz, MEX - 1.833
Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 1.115
Allan de San Miguel, AUS - 1.111
Alfredo Despaigne, CUB - .947
Japhet Amador, MEX - .900

On-base plus Slugging

Esteban Quiroz, MEX - 2.633
Wladimir Balentien, NLD - 1.793
Allan de San Miguel, AUS - 1.747
Alfredo Despaigne, CUB - 1.531
Gregory Polanco, DOM - 1.461

Pitching Leaders[edit]

A minimum 0.8 innings pitched/game needed to qualify

Wins

Danny Duffy, USA - 2
Seth Lugo, PRI - 2
37 tied with 1

Losses

Hung-Wen Chen, TPE - 2
Ryan Dempster, CAN - 2
Yoanni Yera, CUB - 2
36 tied with 1

Saves

Luke Gregerson, USA - 3
Josh Zeid, ISR - 2
Edwin Diaz, PRI - 2
Jeurys Familia, DOM - 2
Kazuhisa Makita, JPN - 2

Games

Ryo Akiyoshi, JPN - 6
Yoshihisa Hirano, JPN - 6
7 tied with 1

Games Started

Seth Lugo, PRI - 3
Jason Marquis, ISR - 3
Marcus Stroman, USA - 3
Tomoyuki Sugano, JPN - 3
Rick van den Hurk, NLD - 3

Innings Pitched

Marcus Stroman, USA - 15 1/3
Seth Lugo, PRI - 15
Tomoyuki Sugano, JPN - 14 1/3
Jair Jurrjens, NLD - 11 1/3
Kodai Senga, JPN - 11

Hits Allowed

Rick van den Hurk, NLD - 15
Tomoyuki Sugano, JPN - 14
Jair Jurrjens, NLD - 12
Marcus Stroman, USA - 12
Seth Lugo, PRI - 11

Runs Allowed

Rick van den Hurk, NLD - 8
7 tied with 7

Earned Runs Allowed

Rick van den Hurk, NLD - 8
Ryan Dempster, CAN - 7
Wil Ledezma, VEN - 7
Yoanni Yera, CUB - 7
Chun-Lin Kuo, TPE - 7
Seth Lugo, PRI - 7

Home Runs Allowed

Jhoulys Chacin, VEN - 3
Yovani Gallardo, MEX - 3
Seth Lugo, PRI - 3
Vladimir García, CUB - 3
Seth Lugo, PRI - 3
Hector Rondon, VEN - 3
Rick van den Hurk, NLD - 3

Walks

Yoanni Yera, CUB - 7
Josh Zeid, ISR - 6
Liván Moinelo, CUB - 5
Hector Santiago, PRI - 5
Seth Lugo, PRI - 5

Strikeouts

Kodai Senga, JPN - 16
Tomoyuki Sugano, JPN - 16
Seth Lugo, PRI - 12
Jose Berrios, PRI - 10
Josh Zeid, ISR - 10

Earned Run Average

Josh Zeid, ISR - 0.00 (10 IP)
Dellin Betances, DOM - 0.00 (5 IP)
Miguel Lahera, CUB - 0.00 (4 2/3 IP)
Travis Blackley, AUS - 0.00 (4 2/3 IP)
Weiqiang Meng, CHN - 0.00 (4 IP)

- Sam Dyson (USA) allowed no runs in 6 innings but did not meet the qualifiers due to his team playing more games than Cuba, Australia, China or the Dominican Republic. Similarly, Joseph Colón (PRI), Pat Neshek (USA) and Loek van Mil (NLD) all pitched five innings with no earned runs but did not qualify.

Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched

José Quintana, COL - 0.35
Travis Blackley, AUS - 0.43
Seung-hwan Oh, KOR - 0.60
Julio Teherán, COL - 0.60
Shairon Martis, NLD - 0.65

- Dyson had a 0.00 WHIP in 6 IP (more IP than the top four listed here) but did not qualify due to the US playing more games than Colombia, Australia or South Korea. Chris Archer had a 0.00 WHIP in 4 IP for the USA (more IP than Oh) and Luke Gregerson 0.25 in 4 IP for the USA.

Final Standings[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

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