2023 World Baseball Classic

The 2023 World Baseball Classic, the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, took place from March 8-21, 2023, with games played in three countries: the United States, Japan and Taiwan. Qualifiers for the tournament took place a year earlier, in September 2022. The event was the first Classic in six years after the 2021 World Baseball Classic was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-finals and finals were staged at LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL, in front of boisterous crowds.

Japan won its third title in five editions of the classic, defeating the United States, 3-2, in a closely-fought final game. Shohei Ohtani of Japan confirmed his status as the world's best player by excelling both as a hitter and as a pitcher and winning the tournament MVP award. Mexico reached the semi-finals for the first time, while Cuba, its national team reinforced by defectors for the first time ever, made it to semis for the first time since the inaugural tournament.

The 2023 edition of the tournament expanded to 20 participants, from 16 in the previous four editions, spread among four first-round pools. This guaranteed each team one extra game. All 16 teams from the 2017 tournament received an automatic entry, with the four extra teams emerging from the qualifiers - United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Nicaragua and Panama - of these four countries, only Panama had participated in the past, most recently in 2009. In late December 2022, MLB reached an agreement with Cuban officials opening the door for Cuban refugees to play for the Cuban national team without being repatriated, a first. That allowed Cuba to bring in players like Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr., who had never represented Cuba in a senior-level tournament. The event again featured many of MLB's biggest names, like Mike Trout, Ronald Acuña Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto, though Clayton Kershaw was a late withdrawal. Miguel Cabrera and Oliver Pérez were the only players to make all five Classics; for Pérez, it would be his swan song as he announced he would retire at the end of the tournament. Another change was that the second round was replaced by winner-take-all quarterfinals, adding more drama to that round.

Rosters and Umpires[edit]

2023 World Baseball Classic (Rosters) and 2023 World Baseball Classic (Umpires)

Schedule[edit]

Quarterfinals: March 15-16 in Japan, March 17-18 in USA[edit]

Semifinals and finals: March 19-21 in USA[edit]

Game Results[edit]

March 8[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Cuba	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	0
Netherlands	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	x	4	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Eric Mendez (1-0), Loss: Onelki García (0-1) Save: Wendell Floranus (1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Nic Lentz (USA); 1B: Shoji Arisumi (Japan); 2B: Dan Iassogna (USA); 3B: Serge Makouchetchev (France)
Time of Game: 3:07 Attendance: 6,501

Tom de Blok walked two in a scoreless first before Cuba got to him in the second on a walk to RF Yoelkis Guibert and a two-out double by 2B Yadil Mujica. It was the only hit de Blok would allow in his three innings, though. The Dutch entry tied it up in the third against Yariel Rodríguez. Veteran CF Roger Bernadina had a one-out single, advanced on a grounder from SS Xander Bogaerts and scored on a hit from 1B Didi Gregorius.

Derek West and Eric Mendez followed de Blok with scoreless work. In the bottom of the 6th, the Netherlands got the winning rally. Gregorius drew a walk from Onelki García to open the inning, then 2B Jonathan Schoop singled. Carlos Viera relieved and struck out DH Wladimir Balentien but RF Josh Palacios singled for a 2-1 lead. Viera fanned 3B Andrelton Simmons and Palacios stole second, then C Chadwick Tromp blooped a hit into center to score both runners.

Cuba got its last run in the 7th against Kevin Kelly. Guibert doubled, took third on a fly from SS Erisbel Arruebarrena and scored on a Mujica grounder. Franklin Van Gurp worked a scoreless 8th for the Netherlands and Wendell Floranus saved it with a 1-2-3 9th against C Lorenzo Quintana (K), 1B Yadir Drake and Guibert.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Panama	0	0	0	5	0	6	1	0	0	12	14	0
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	5	13	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Randall Delgado (1-0), Loss: Chih-Wei Hu (0-1)
Home Runs
Taipei: Nien-Ting Wu (1)
Umpires
HP: Roberto Ortíz (Puerto Rico); 1B: Trent Thomas (Australia); 2B: Chris Segal (USA); 3B: Ki-Talk Park (South Korea)
Time of Game: 4:02 Attendance: 15,540

Panama's first Classic in 14 years yielded their first win ever, after having gone 0-5 over their two prior Classics. Chih-Wei Hu shut them down for three innings but then flagged and they exploded for 12 runs over the next 6 innings, Taiwan trying eight different pitchers to stop the onslaught. C.C. Lee was the best of the bunch, working 1 1/3 shutout innings, as few found a way to solve Panama's offense. 2B Jonathan Araúz drove in three while 1B Jahdiel Santamaria doubled twice, scored twice and drove in a pair. For the hosts, 2B/SS Tsung-Che Cheng and 3B/1B Nien-Ting Wu each had three hits, Wu going deep. Cheng thought he had an inside-the-park homer too before it was discovered that RF Luis Castillo had held onto the ball when he collided with CF José Ramos.

March 9[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Panama	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	7	1
Netherlands	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	x	3	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shairon Martis (1-0), Loss: Jaime Barría (0-1) Save: Wendell Floranus (2)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Xander Bogaerts (1), Jurickson Profar (1)
Umpires
HP: Larry Vanover (USA); 1B: Roberto Ortíz (Puerto Rico); 2B: Trent Thomas (Australia); 3B: Shoji Arisumi (Japan)
Time of Game: 2:45 Attendance: 6,048

The Netherlands went to 2-0. They turned to Shairon Martis, who had no-hit Panama in the 2006 WBC for the only no-hitter in WBC history to date. At that time, he was a young minor leaguer; now, he was pitching as a veteran with MLB experience who was starring in the Dutch Hoofdklasse in recent years. Martis again had Panama's number, shutting them out for 3 1/3 IP.

The Dutch got a shot in the second against Jaime Barría as DH Wladimir Balentien walked then tried to score on a two-out hit by C Chadwick Tromp but LF Allen Córdoba fired him out at home to continue Panama's strong outfield defense. The call was challenged but upheld. The Netherlands went ahead in the third when SS Xander Bogaerts went deep off Barría. Bogaerts would finish with three hits to go with sharp defense at short. In the bottom of the fifth, LF Jurickson Profar went yard off Alberto Guerrero for a 2-0 edge.

Panama got their lone run in the 6th against Mike Bolsenbroek on singles by CF José Ramos, RF Luis Castillo and DH Erasmo Caballero. They only had four hits outside that inning. Franklin Van Gurp and Wendell Floranus retired the last six to seal it. Before that, the Netherlands got an insurance run in the 8th. Bogaerts greeted Alberto Baldonado with a double, was bunted over by 1B Didi Gregorius and scored on a wild pitch.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Australia	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	3	0	8	10	0
South Korea	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	3	0	7	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jon Kennedy (1-0), Loss: Won-jung Kim (0-1) Save: Josh Guyer (1)
Home Runs
Australia: Tim Kennelly (1), Robbie Glendinning (1), Robbie Perkins (1) South Korea: Eui-ji Yang (1)
Umpires
HP: Ramon De Jesus (Dominican Republic); 1B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy); 2B: Adam Hamari (USA); 3B: Chen-Jung Chang (Taiwan)
Time of Game: 3:46 Attendance: ????

Pool B began with a major upset; Australia was 2-10 entering this game in WBC history while South Korea was 15-7. Young-pyo Ko and Jack O'Loughlin traded goose eggs for two, then Mitch Neunborn took over for O'Loughlin and kept it up. In the 4th, 3B Darryl George was plunked by Ko, CF Aaron Whitefield singled and 1B Rixon Wingrove drew a walk. SS Logan Wade hit a sacrifice fly but the rally ended when C Robbie Perkins hit into a double play.

They doubled the lead in the fifth when RF Tim Kennelly took Ko deep to knock him out of the game. South Korea came back in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Neunborn walked LF Hyun-soo Kim and DH Kun-woo Park singled. Daniel McGrath relieved and struck out 3B Jeong Choi but C Eui-ji Yang then homered for a 3-2 Korean advantage.

South Korea made it 4-2 in the 6th when CF Jung-hoo Lee hit a two-out single off McGrath and 1B Byung-ho Park doubled him in. The Aussies came right back in the 7th. Perkins was hit by Hyeong-jun So and LF Ulrich Bojarski singled. Kennelly bunted them over and Won-jung Kim relieved. He struck out 2022-2023 ABL Helms Award winner Alex Hall but 2B Robbie Glendinning then hit a long shot to left for the game's second three-run homer.

Glendinning came up big on defense in the 7th. PH Baek-ho Kang doubled off Warwick Saupold but took his foot off the base while celebrating and Glendinning tagged him out. As Yang followed with a single, it likely cost South Korea a run. Australia added insurance in the 8th - which would prove critical as well. Wingrove singled off Hyeon-jong Yang and Wade doubled. Perkins then smacked a three-run homer for a 8-4 edge.

The 2008 Olympics Gold Medalists came back in the bottom of the 8th against veteran Steven Kent. 2B Tommy Edman and Ha-seong Kim (who had moved to third) both drew walks. Dave Nilsson then summoned his youngest hurler, Will Sherriff. He also had trouble finding the plate, walking Jung-hoo lee and Byung-ho Park to close it to 8-5 and put the potential go-ahead run at the plate with no outs. Hyun-soo Park grounded in a run and Kun-woo Park was plunked to put the potential go-ahead run on base. Backup SS Ji-hwan Oh hit into a run-scoring force and the game was now a one-run contest. Sam Holland was Australia's next hurler and he walked PH Hye-seong Kim to load the bases again. He came up big, though, by whiffing RF Sung-bum Na to stop the rally.

After Australia went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, they turned to Josh Guyer (their ninth hurler of the day) to try to close it out. Edman opened with a single but Ha-seong Kim and Jung-hoo Lee both flew out, then Perkins gunned down Edman trying to steal second to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	4	6	11	1
Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	3	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Matt Festa (1-0), Loss: Raidel Martínez (0-1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Ki-talk Park (South Korea); 1B: Mark Carlson (USA); 2B: Chris Segal (USA); 3B: Serge Makouchetchev (France)
Time of Game: 3:43 Attendance: 6,217

The first WBC meeting between Cuba and Italy was a dramatic one. It began as a pitching duel as Matt Harvey and Andre Pallante blanked the islanders for five, while Roenis Elías held Italy in check. After José Rodriguez relieved in the top of the 6th, LF Sal Frelick singled. With one out, 1B Vinnie Pasquantino and DH Dominic Fletcher also singled. Naykel Cruz relieved and C Brett Sullivan's sacrifice fly made it 1-0.

Italy doubled the lead an inning later. 3B Nicky Lopez singled, then Liván Moinelo relieved Cruz. He struck out CF Ben DeLuzio but 3B Miles Mastrobuoni doubled for a 2-0 lead. Cuba came back in the bottom of the inning against Vinny Nittoli when SS Erisbel Arruebarrena singled and moved to third on an error by DeLuzio on the hit. C Lorenzo Quintana singled to cut it to 2-1 but Nittoli and Joe LaSorsa escaped further harm.

Matt Festa succeeded LaSorsa in the 8th. He whiffed CF Luis Robert then DH Alfredo Despaigne doubled. With two away, Arruebarrena again came up big, with a game-tying single to right. Neither team got any offense in the ninth. In the tenth, Frelick started on second under the extra innings rules and stole third, then scored on DH John Valente's hit off Raidel Martínez. After an out, Game 1 loser Onelki García took over and ran into trouble as Dominic Fletcher plated Valente with a double. With one out, his brother SS David Fletcher was intentionally walked and a wild pitch advanced the Fletcher brothers. Lopez then came up with a big two-run single for a 6-2 lead. In the bottom of the 10th, Cuba got one back against Mitchell Stumpo when Robert singled in RF Yoelkis Guibert but veterans Despaigne and PH Yurisbel Gracial flew out 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	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	2
Japan	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	4	x	8	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shohei Ohtani (1-0), Loss: Xiang Wang (0-1)
Home Runs
China: Pei Liang (1) Japan: Shugo Maki (1)
Umpires
HP: Stu Scheurwater (Canada); 1B: Cuti Suárez (Spain); 2B: Ben May (USA); 3B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico)
Time of Game: 3:41 Attendance: 41,616

In a lopsided contest as expected, the Pool B hosts roll past China. They got to Xiang Wang in the first on a hit by CF Lars Nootbaar, followed by walks to RF Kensuke Kondoh, P Shohei Ohtani and 3B Munetaka Murakami. Ohtani presumably was the first pitcher to bat in a WBC. When SS Jin Yang singled off Ohtani in the 4th, it was the only hit he surrendered in his four innings of work.

Nootbaar again started a rally for Japan, when he singled off Weiyi Wang in the bottom of the 4th. Kondoh singled then Ohtani doubled both men in. China got their lone run in the 6th when RF Pei Liang homered off Shosei Togo. Japan would allow only three hits while Ohtani, Togo, Atsuki Yuasa and Hiromi Itoh combined to fan 17. 2B Shugo Maki homered off 41-year-old Changlong Su oin the 7th to make it 4-1.

Japan really padded the lead in the 8th. Ohtani singled off Jian Yi and LF Masataka Yoshida drew a one-out walk. 1B Kazuma Okamoto drew a walk, one of 16 by Chinese hurlers today. Backup 2B Tetsuto Yamada singled in a run then SS Sosuke Genda drew a bases-loaded walk. Yuchen Wang relieved but light-hitting C Takuya Kai greeted him with a two-run single to cap the scoring. The first pitch was thrown out by Japanese pop star Shiori Kubo.

March 10[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Czech Republic	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	8	10	1
People's Republic of China	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	x	5	6	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Marek Minařík (1-0), Loss: Haicheng Gong (0-1)
Home Runs
Czech Republic: Matěj Menšík (1), Martin Mužík (1)
Umpires
HP: Chan-Jung Chang (Taiwan); 1B: Pat Hoberg (USA); 2B: Ben May (USA); 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy)
Time of Game: 3:54 Attendance: ????

The Czech Republic becomes the first of the three WBC newcomers to play a game, and they start off on a high note. They did it with the MM boys as Marek Minařík got the win and homers came from Matěj Menšík and Martin Mužík. The Europeans struck early against Fuyang Zhao. SS Vojtěch Menšík and 2B Eric Sogard hit back-to-back singles then CF Marek Chlup hit a sacrifice fly but it was dropped by RF Pei Liang, allowing Chlup to reach. Zhao retired cleanup hitter C Martin Červenka but walked RF Matěj Menšík and that ended his day, as Chaoqun Zheng replaced him. 1B Mužík then hit a sac fly; this time, Liang held on, but his team was in the hole 2-0.

The Czechs loaded the bases in the second but Zheng retired Červenka to end the threat. Matěj Menšík homered to open the third for a 3-0 lead. Daniel Padyšák turned in four hitless innings to open the game for the Czechs. He then turned the ball over to Martin Schneider. Schneider had a rougher time, walking 3B Chen Chen and DH Ray Chang. He retired 1B Jie Cao then walked LF YongKang Kou. 2B Jinjun Luo hit into a run-scoring force to put China on the board.

In the top of the 6th, the Czechs built their lead further. LF Willie Escala drew a walk from Alan Carter, advanced on a passed ball by Chenchen Luan and a grounder by DH Petr Zýma. 3B Filip Smola singled in Escala to make it 4-1. The Czechs again blew a bases-loaded opportunity in the 7th, as Haicheng Gong escaped the jam by getting Zýma on a grounder.

After being shut down for six innings, China rallied in the 7th. Chang doubled off Georgia Tech hurler Michal Kovala and advanced on a wild pitch. Cao hit a sacrifice fly, then Kou walked and scored on a hit by Luo. Kovala walked Luan and Liang singled in Luo to tie it. Minařík took over and allowed a comebacker single by SS Jin Yang off his glove to score PR Xudong Zhu and give China the lead.

The Czechs, having led most of the day, entered the ninth still down 5-4. Gong began by striking out Chlup, then walked Červenka and gave up a two-bagger to Matěj Menšík. China turned to Kwon Ju, a pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization. He was greeted roughly by Mužík, who tagged him for a game-winning three-run homer. After Escala grounded out, Zýma doubled and Smola singled in PR Marek Krejčiřík for the last run. Minařík allowed a one-out single to backup C Ning Li in the ninth but that was all as he closed the door for the win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Cuba	1	1	0	0	0	4	5	2	0	13	21	1
Panama	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Miguel Romero (1-0), Loss: Matt Hardy (0-1)
Home Runs
Panama: Rubén Tejada (1)
Umpires
HP: Dan Iassogna (USA); 1B: Serge Makouchetchev (France); 2B: Mark Carlson (USA); 3B: Trent Thomas (Australia)
Time of Game: 4:09 Attendance: 7,023

Cuba finally got their first win; while the final score was lopsided, they had to battle back to win. They did score first. LF Roel Santos led off with a bunt hit off Andy Otero, the first of his three hits. After major leaguers 3B Yoán Moncada and CF Luis Robert were retired, Santos stole second and DH Alfredo Despaigne doubled in a run. In the second, Cuba got back-to-back one-out doubles by 1B Yadir Drake and 2B Yadil Mujica.

In the bottom of the second, facing Ronald Bolaños, CF José Ramos hit into an error by Moncada. After an out, SS Rubén Tejada (the only remaining player from Panama's last WBC team) hit a game-tying dinger. DH Erasmo Caballero and 3B José Caballero both drew walks, then 1B Jahdiel Santamaria singled to load the bases. LF Allen Córdoba singled in a pair and it was 4-2. Carlos Viera relieved and escaped the jam. Viera, Miguel Romero, Frank Abel Álvarez and Yeudis Reyes shut out Panama the rest of the way.

Panama maintained the 4-2 lead until the 6th, when Cuba staged their winning comeback. SS Erisbel Arruebarrena singled off Matt Hardy, then C Ariel Martínez was plunked and RF Yoelkis Guibert walked. Drake singled to cut the deficit to one, and Mujica's sac fly tied it. Santos hit into a force at second, then Moncada singled in Guibert to give Cuba the lead. Randall Delgado replaced Hardy but Robert greeted him with a RBI single. After that, Cuba kept pounding out the hits, adding 7 runs in the last 3 innings and finishing with 21 hits. Santos ended with 3 hits and 3 runs, Moncada with 3 hits and 4 RBI, Drake was 4-for-4 with three runs and even #9 hitter Mujica had three hits and four RBI.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
South Korea	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	6	1
Japan	0	0	4	0	2	5	2	0	x	13	13	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Yu Darvish (1-0), Loss: Kwang-hyun Kim (0-1)
Home Runs
South Korea: Eui-ji Yang (2), Kun-woo Park (1) Japan: Kensuke Kondoh (1)
Umpires
HP: Laz Díaz (USA); 1B: Stu Scheurwater (Canada); 2B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico); 3B: Cuti Suárez (Spain)
Time of Game: 4:04 Attendance: 41,629

The hosts roll past their rivals, with another easy win. They do fall behind early. After former major leaguers Yu Darvish and Kwang-hyun Kim each turn in two scoreless frames, South Korea gets to Darvish in the third. DH Baek-ho Kang doubled for South Korea's first hit then C Eui-ji Yang hit his second homer of the Classic. With two away, SS Ha-seong Kim hit into a two-base error by 3B Munetaka Murakami. CF Jung-hoo Lee singled him in. After Darvish left, Shota Imanaga allowed one run (a solo shot by RF Kun-woo Park) in three innings then Yuki Udagawa, Yuki Matsui and Hiroto Takahashi each turned in a hitless, scoreless inning.

Meanwhile, Japan was rallying. In the bottom of the third, SS Sosuke Genda and C Yuhei Nakamura each walked. CF Lars Nootbaar singled in a run and RF Kensuke Kondoh doubled in another. Tae-in Won relieved Kwang-hyun Kim and intentionally walked DH Shohei Ohtani to face homer record setter Murakami. Murakami was retired, but LF Masataka Yoshida singled in two runs for a 4-3 lead and Japan would not look back. Yoshida finished 3-for-3 with a walk and five RBI, while Kondoh was reached four of five times up with three runs and three RBI. South Korea wound up trying ten pitchers, with only Se-woong Park managing at least an inning (1 1/3) while not getting a run charged.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium
Italy	0	2	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	2
Chinese Taipei	1	1	3	0	0	2	1	3	x	11	16	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Yen-Ching Lu (1-0), Loss: Stephen Woods Jr. (0-1) , Save: Chia-Hao Sung (1)
Home Runs
Chinese Taipei: Tzu-Wei Lin (1), Yu Chang (1) Kungkuan Giljegiljaw (1)
Umpires
HP: Chris Segal (USA); 1B: Nic Lentz (USA); 2B: Shoji Arisumi (Japan); 3B: Ki Talk Park (South Korea)
Time of Game: 3:58 Attendance: 18,799

With a disastrous loss against Panama, Taiwan needed a win to stay alive in the tournament, and Tzu-Wei Lin gave the host what they want with a home run in the first inning. Italy came back soon. OF Dominic Fletcher hit a lead-off single, Brett Sullivan walked and Nicky Lopez's squeeze bunt tied the game. CF Ben DeLuzio then tripled to take the lead. Chinese Taipei rallied in the next inning, as Tsung-Che Cheng hit an timely RBI single in the bottom of 2nd inning, and Taiwan scored two more when Chieh-Hsien Chen and Po-Jung Wang got back-to-back RBI singles in next inning. The error of Nicky Lopez gave Taiwan another run.

However, the scoring party didn't end. Fletcher walked and Sullivan singled in the top of the fourth inning. Facing the same situation of the first inning, the ace of Wei-Chuan Wei-Chung Wang struck out Friscia, but failed to stop Italy from getting back their lead. Lopez singled, Miles Mastrobuoni singled, and OF Sal Frelick doubled to drive in the go-ahead run. Wang was replaced by lefty Kuan-Yu Chen in the next inning, and with two walks in a row, Lopez singled again and Italy got a 7-5 lead now.

Taiwan answered in the sixth inning. CPBL triple crown winner Li Lin walked and their best slugger Yu Chang went deep to tie this game again. The host didn't stop, as Chen walked in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Chin Cheng and SS Chiang both singled and loaded the bases. Another pinch-hitter, the best batter of Fubon Kuo-Chen Fan hit a lucky infield hit to scratch the lead back. Reliever Joey Marciano escaped the jam by forcing Li Lin to ground into a double play, but he walked Chang and 3B Nien-Ting Wu singled to give Taiwan another scoring chance. Giljegiljaw Kungkuan took advantage of it and got the big hit in the game, a three run home-run to completely secure the important win for Taiwan.

March 11[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
People's Republic of China	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5	1
Australia	3	0	2	5	0	1	1	12	12	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kyle Glogoski (1-0), Loss: Xin Qi (0-1)
Home Runs
Australia: Robbie Glendinning (2)
Umpires
HP: Adam Hamari (USA); 1B: Chan-Jung Chang (Taiwan); 2B: Pat Hoberg (USA); 3B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico)
Time of Game: 2:52 Attendance: ????

Australia ties Japan atop the pool, in the process going to 2-0 after being 2-10 in their first four Classics. They got to Xin Qi for all the runs they needed in the first when RF Tim Kennelly was plunked, 3B Darryl George and CF Aaron Whitefield drew two-out walks and big 1B Rixon Wingrove doubled them all in. Kyle Glogoski, the first New Zealand native to play in a WBC, fans five in 2 2/3 shutout innings for the win while Coen Wynne and Todd Van Steensel are hitless over the final 3 2/3. Kennelly, George and Whitefield each score three runs, Wingrove drives in four and 2B Robbie Glendinning goes deep for the second straight game, with a shot off Weiyi Wang.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Panama	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	7	0
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Harold Araúz (1-0), Loss: Michele Vassalotti (0-1), Save: Javy Guerra (1)
Home Runs
Panama: José Ramos (1)
Umpires
HP: Shoji Arisumi (Japan); 1B: Larry Vanover (USA); 2B: Trent Thomas (Australia); 3B: Chris Segal (USA)
Time of Game: 2:57 Attendance: 7,732

Panama keeps their hopes alive by shutting down an Italian offense that had scored 13 runs in its first two games (and would score seven more in their other Pool game). Harold Araúz went four scoreless and was succeeded by Humberto Mejía, Alberto Baldonado and Javy Guerra. CF Sal Frelick and SS Nicky Lopez each had two hits but the rest of their team was 1-for-21. CF José Ramos, Panama's big bopper in the qualifiers, took Michele Vassalotti deep in the second for the deciding run. Panama's other run came in the 7th when Ramos singled off Sam Gaviglio, advanced on a grounder and scored on a hit by LF Allen Córdoba.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Czech Republic	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	4	1
Japan	0	0	3	4	1	0	0	2	x	10	11	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Roki Sasaki (1-0), Loss: Ondřej Satoria (0-1), Save: Hiroya Miyagi (1)
Home Runs
Japan: Shugo Maki (2)
Umpires
HP: Ben May (USA); 1B: Ramon De Jesus (Dominican Republic); 2B: Cuti Suárez (Spain); 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy)
Time of Game: 3:26 Attendance: 41,637

In an expected mismatch, the hosts become the first team to advance, while the Europeans avoid a mercy rule defeat and do lead for 2 1/2 innings. In the top of the first, CF Marek Chlup hit a two-out double off fireballer Roki Sasaki (he hit 100+ mph on 21 of his 66 pitches) and C Martin Červenka hit into a run-scoring error by SS Takumu Nakano.

Ondřej Satoria shut down the mighty Japanese bats for two innings, stranding the bases loaded in the second, but Japan got to him in the third. He retired CF Lars Nootbaar, allowed a double to RF Kensuke Kondoh then whiffed DH Shohei Ohtani. 3B Munetaka Murakami walked and LF Masataka Yoshida doubled in a pair to Japan ahead. 2B Tetsuto Yamada added a RBI single and Japan cruised from there.

Tomáš Duffek was a bright spot for the Czechs, blanking Samurai Japan for two innings. Yoshida finished with three RBI and Nakano walked three times, while Hiroya Miyagi allowed one run over the final five for a long save. Japanese hurlers combined to fan 16.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	5	6	0
Chinese Taipei	0	5	2	1	0	0	0	1	x	9	11	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Tzu-Peng Huang (1-0), Loss: Lars Huijer (0-1), Save: Chia-Hao Sung (2)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Ray-Patrick Didder (1) Chinese Taipei: Yu Chang (1)
Umpires
HP: Mark Carlson (USA); 1B: Ki-talk Park (South Korea); 2B: Dan Iassogna (USA); 3B: Serge Makouchetchev (France)
Time of Game: 3:34 Attendance: 18,826

With a come back win against Italy, Taiwan manager Yueh-Ping Lin decided to start slugger catcher Giljegiljaw Kungkuan instead of two-time Gold glove Dai-An Lin. It looks like a unwise decision as Giljegiljaw passed ball two times, dropped ball and made starting pitcher Tzu-Peng Huang get a unearned run with Didi Gregorius's timely single in the first inning. Taiwanese roared back soon, OF Po-Jung Wang hit a lead off single and dutch starter Lars Huijer walked next two hitters in the third inning, CPBL triple crown Li Lin then tied it up with a single. When bases loaded, cleanup hitter Yu Chang hit the first grand slam in this tournament on reliver Derek West , helped Taiwan get a 5-1 lead.

Netherlands didn't give up, Huang walked the first two hitters in next inning, and Giljegiljaw passed another ball. Didi Gregorius grounded up and get the Netherlands's second, and the last run before the eighth inning. CPBL winning percentage record holder Che-Yuan Wu then relieved Huang and pitched 4.1 insane scoreless inning, only C Chadwick Tromp hit a single.

Team Taiwan didn't stop their offense. West walked two between Chieh-Hsien Chen hit a double. SS Kun-Yu Chiang get Taiwan's sixth run with a sacrifice fly, and 2B Tsung-Che Cheng bunt into a single and drilled the seventh run. Although Jurickson Profar's laser throw nab Yu Chang on the home when Giljegiljaw doubled in next inning, he still can't stop Chieh-Hsien Chen triple and sent Giljegiljaw back to scored the eighth run of Chinese Taipei.

The Dutch finally started their rally when Wu was replaced by C.C. Lee. When he walked two, Taiwan manager Lin decided to use lefty Kuan-Yu Chen to prevent closer Chia-Hao Sung pitched consecutive games. But Juremi Profar and Wladimir Balentien both hit RBI singled and Sung was forced to take the mound to retired Chadwick Tromp. Since he can't pitch tomorrow against Cuba, Sung still on the mound to secured the win for CT. Ray-Patrick Didder homered in th 9th inning, but Sung then strikeout Xander Bogaerts and getting Gregorius on a grounder to help Taiwan capture the second win in the World Baseball Classic.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Puerto Rico	1	0	0	0	5	0	3	0	x	9	11	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Nicholas Padilla (1-0), Loss: JC Ramírez (0-1)
Home Runs
Nicaragua: Elián Miranda (1)
Umpires
HP: Mike Estabrook (USA); 1B: Alejandro Pecero (Panama); 2B: Angel Hernandez (Cuba); 3B: Chris Graham (Canada)
Time of Game: 2:44 Attendance: 35,399

Nicaragua debuts with an expected loss against 2017 semifinalist Puerto Rico but stayed in the contest for half the game. Puerto Rico scored in the first off Brewers prospect Carlos Rodríguez. SS Francisco Lindor led off with a single, CF Enrique Hernandez walked and Lindor advanced on a fly from RF MJ Melendez and a grounder from 3B Emmanuel Rivera. That was the only run Rodríguez would allow in his four innings.

Puerto Rico turned to 2017 WBC MVP Marcus Stroman (he pitched for the US in '17). After four shutout innings, he allowed a game-tying two-out homer in the 5th to DH Elián Miranda. Nicholas Padilla, Yacksel Ríos, Duane Underwood Jr., Anthony Maldonado and Emilio Pagán followed with scoreless relief over the final 4 1/3 innings.

The islanders pulled ahead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Veteran JC Ramírez came in for Nicaragua and he had a rough greeting. DH Christian Vázquez walked and C Martin Maldonado singled as the bottom of the lineup struck. Lindor singled in Vázquez with the winner then Hernandez singled as well. Nicaragua tried another Ramírez with MLB experience, Erasmo Ramírez, given JC's struggles. Melendez greeted him with a two-run single and Rivera had his second RBI grounder of the day, then 2B Javier Báez singled in another. Puerto Rico did not look back.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Colombia	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	5	7	1
Mexico	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	4	9	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Guillermo Zuñiga (1-0), Loss: Jesús Cruz (0-1)
Home Runs
Colombia: Reynaldo Rodriguez (1) Mexico: Randy Arozarena (1)
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Edwin Louisa (Netherlands); 2B: Doug Eddings (USA); 3B: Jairo Mendoza (Nicaragua)
Time of Game: 3:24 Attendance: 28,497

In a thrilling game between the top two contenders for a second-round spot in Pool C after the favorite Team USA, Colombia defeated Mexico, 5-4, in extra innings. The two starting pitchers in the game were solid through the first four innings, with Nabil Crismatt of Colombia allowing just one run in four innings before leaving, and Julio Urias, the current face of Mexican baseball, being perfect through the first four innings. The game's first run scored in the bottom of the 4th, when Isaac Paredes drove in Joey Meneses with a two-out single for Mexico. Jorge Alfaro led off the 5th with a double for Colombia, followed by another double by Elias Diaz and a two-run homer by veteran Reynaldo Rodriguez that curled around the left-field pole at Chase Field. The 3-1 Colombian lead was short-lived though as Mexico came right back against Jhon Romero when Randy Arozarena homered with two outs and Alek Thomas on second base. The Colombians took another lead in the 7th as Alfaro once again led off with a double, this one against Luis Cessa, and Rodriguez drove him in with a single one out later. But that lead was short-lived too as after one out, Reiver Sanmartin allowed back-to-back singles to Thomas and Austin Barnes and Alex Verdugo singled off Pedro García with two outs.

After a scoreless 8th, Giovanny Gallegos got Gio Urshela to ground into a double play in the top of the 9th and Mexico wasted a chance to win the game against AA pitcher Guillermo Zuñiga: Austin Barnes hit a two-out double, bringing up Arozarena, who was issued an intentional pass. Verdugo had a chance to end the game but struck out on three pitches as Zuñiga blew some heaters past the veteran major leaguer. In the 10th, with Alfaro the designated runner at second base, Diaz hit a fly ball to right to advance him 90 feet, and Rodriguez followed with a scorching ground ball down the third base line. Paredes made a beautiful diving stop to prevent a double, but Rodriguez was safe at first base, putting runners on the corners. Substitute Fabian Pertuz attempted a bunt but popped the ball to 1B Rowdy Tellez for the second out. Jesus Cruz then seemed to have made it out of the inning when he induced Gustavo Campero, another substitute, to ground the ball to shortstop, but the ball took an unusual bounce as SS Luis Urias was unable to make a play, being charged with an error as Alfaro scored the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the inning, Jarren Duran pinch-ran for the designated runner, Verdugo, but Zuñiga struck out Meneses and forced Tellez to hit a pop-up to shallow right for the second out. Duran was still on second base, but then took the initiative by stealing third base. However, Zuñiga recorded his fourth strikeout of his outing to end the game with a whiff of Paredes.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Dominican Republic	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1
Venezuela	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	1	x	5	9	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: José Ruiz (1-0), Loss: Sandy Alcantara (0-1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Anthony Santander (1)
Umpires
HP: Andy Fletcher (USA); 1B: Tim Meyer (Germany); 2B: Ron Kulpa (USA); 3B: Maikol Tibabijo (Colombia)
Time of Game: 3:19 Attendance: 35,890

In a matchup of two star-studded teams, the Dominicans (named by many articles as the tourney favorite) dropped one to Venezuela in a jam-packed LoanDepot Park that looked like it was in the middle of Santo Domingo given how much Dominican fans outnumbered Venezuelan ones. It took only two batters for the Dominicans to take the lead, as Julio Rodriguez led off the game with a single and on Martin Perez's next pitch, Juan Soto hit a double for a 1-0 lead. However, Perez settled down as he retired the next three batters. Sandy Alcantara also had to work hard in the 1st, but escaped thanks to a double play grounder by Ronald Acuna and by striking out Salvador Perez after a double by Luis Arraez. In the 2nd the Dominicans loaded the bases against Perez on a walk, a single and an error by 3B Eugenio Suarez, but he escaped by striking out Rodriguez and getting Soto to ground out. And in the bottom of the inning, Anthony Santander hit a towering homer to right field off Alcantara to tie the game and take the boisterous crowd out of the equation.

The Venezuelans struck again in the 4th, with the bottom of the order doing the damage once again. They loaded the bases with nobody out on a double by Perez, followed by a walk to Gleyber Torres and a single by Andres Gimenez, Alcantara almost escaped the jam by getting Santander to pop up and striking out Suarez, but after a long battle, David Peralta lined a single to right and two runs scored as Teoscar Hernandez's throw from right field was unwisely cut off before reaching the plate. Luis Garcia came on to pitch the top of the 5th and completely muzzled the Dominicans' bats with three hitless innings of work. His namesake, Dominican pitcher Luis Garcia gave up an insurance run in the bottom of the 7th with a two-out walk to Suarez, followed by a double by Peralta. Peralta was caught in no man's land between second and third base to end the inning, but his hit had increased the lead to 4-1. Jose Quijada stranded a couple of baserunners in the 8th thanks to a magnificent diving catch by Santander in right field to deprive Jeimer Candelario, in what was a major missed opportunity by the Dominicans. Venezuela made them pay when Santander tripled with two outs in the bottom of the inning and Suarez followed with a single to make it 5-1. That extra margin of comfort proved important as José Alvarado struggled with his control in the 9th, giving up a double to Soto, a wild pitch, and a walk to Manny Machado after one out. But he got out of trouble by striking out Hernandez and getting Rafael Devers to ground out to third base to seal the win, the first time Venezuela had beaten the D.R. in WBC play.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
United Kingdom	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	8	2
United States	0	0	2	3	0	1	0	0	x	6	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Adam Wainwright (1-0), Loss: Vance Worley (0-1)
Home Runs
Great Britain: Trayce Thompson (1) USA: Kyle Schwarber (1)
Umpires
HP: Carlos Torres (Venezuela); 1B: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 2B: Bill Miller (USA); 3B: Jhonatan Biarreta (Venezuela)
Time of Game: 2:54 Attendance: 39,650

Britain's debut goes about as well as can be hoped, staying within sight of the powerful US team as the defending champs cruise to an opening win. Britain did strike first when CF Trayce Thompson hit a one-out dinger off Adam Wainwright in the top of the first. Another NL Central veteran, Vance Worley, took the hill against his homeland. He began by retiring RF Mookie Betts and CF Mike Trout but 1B Paul Goldschmidt walked, 3B Nolan Arenado singled and DH Kyle Schwarber walked. Worley recovered to retire SS Trea Turner to end the threat.

After Worley also blanked the US in the second, the American bats came alive in the third. Goldschmidt reached on a one-out error by SS Darnell Sweeney and scored on a two-bagger by Arenado. After Schwarber was retired, Turner walked. Jake Esch replaced Worley and LF Kyle Tucker singled to make it 2-1. The next inning, Trout drew a one-out walk and stole, then Goldschmidt was hit. Ryan Long relieved and retired Arenado but Schwarber socked a three-run bomb for a 5-1 lead.

The US got their last run in the sixth against Daniel Cooper when the 2017 WBC duo of Goldschmidt-Arenado struck again, this time with a single and a double respectively. Great Britain got their last run in the top of the 7th when PH D'Shawn Knowles tripled off Kyle Freeland and scored on a grounder from 2B Anfernee Seymour.

March 12[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	6	1
South Korea	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	x	7	11	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Se-woong Park (1-0), Loss: Lukáš Ercoli (0-1), Save: Yong-chan Lee (1)
Home Runs
South Korea: Ha-seong Kim 2 (2)
Umpires
HP: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico); 1B: Laz Diaz (USA); 2B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy); 3B: Ben May (USA)
Time of Game: 2:55 Attendance: ????

The 2009 runners-up finally win a game, beating the newcomer Czechs. In a matchup of pitchers leaning on their breaking pitches, Se-woong Park struck out 8 in 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one hit (to C Martin Červenka) while Lukáš Ercoli was roughed up. South Korea batted around in the first as RF Kun-woo Park doubled, CF Jung-hoo Lee had a one-out RBI single, DH Byung-ho Park singled and 1B Baek-ho Kang singled in Lee for a 2-0 lead. C Eui-ji Yang walked to load the bases. Ercoli whiffed 3B Jeong Choi but walked LF Hyun-soo Kim to force in a run and 2B Tommy Edman singled in two more. Jeff Barto and Jan Novák held South Korea to one run over the final 6 2/3 innings but the damage had been done. the Czechs outscored South Korea after the first inning, with a two-run double from RF Matěj Menšík their big hit.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1
Cuba	4	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	x	7	13	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Elián Leyva (1-0), Loss: Shih-Peng Chen (0-1)
Home Runs
Cuba: Erisbel Arruebarrena (1), Yoán Moncada (1)
Umpires
HP: Nic Lentz (USA); 1B: Ki-talk Park (South Korea); 2B: Larry Vanover (USA); 3B: Shoji Arisumi (Japan)
Time of Game: 3:21 Attendance: 18,852

Taiwan needs to win this game, or they will be eliminated from the tournament as the tiebreaker would not go their way (due to too many runs allowed). But Cuba destroyed their left-handed starter Shih-Peng Chen in the first inning. Yoan Moncada doubled, and Luis Robert reached first base on a fielding error by two-time Gold Glove SS Kun-Yu Chiang. Former NPB star Alfredo Despaigne then doubled to help Cuba get the lead. SS Erisbel Arruebarrena then hit a monster dinger, turned the Taichung Stadium into a library. Chen was still unable to retire any batter in the next inning with back-to-back singles by Yadir Drake and Yadil Mujica. Roel Santos sent back Drake with a grounder and end the pitching of Chen today. Kuan-Wei Chen relieved, Santos was caught stealing but Moncada broke 20,000 Taiwanese fans' hearts with a solo shot. It was now 6-0 for Cuba.

Cuba starter, CPBL pitcher Elián Leyva pitched well in the first three innings, but Taiwan manager Yueh-Ping Lin protested that Leyva may have used pine tar to enhance his pitching. Leyva passed the check, but hand cramps still forced him leave the game in this inning. That didn't improve the situation for CT as Miguel Romero, Onelki García (another former CPBL pitcher) and NPB star Liván Moinelo shut Taiwan down until the ninth inning. The MVP of Pool A Yu Chang doubled to sent Wei-Chen Wang home, and closer Raidel Martínez retired next two batter to help team Cuba advanced to the Quarterfinlals.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Japan	3	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	10	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0), Loss: Will Sherriff (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Shohei Ohtani (1) Australia: Alex Hall (1)
Umpires
HP: Pat Hoberg (USA); 1B: Cuti Suárez (Spain); 2B: Adam Hamari (USA); 3B: Chan-Jung Chang (Taiwan)
Time of Game: 3:18 Attendance: 41,664

The two unbeaten teams in Pool B square off, with host Japan continuing their dominance as they sweep the pool. The game was decided early on. Australian youngster Will Sherriff walked CF Lars Nootbaar, allowed a single to RF Kensuke Kondoh and then had to face DH Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani hit a three-run shot that almost hit a billboard of himself. He would add a fourth RBI later and C Yuhei Nakamura finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, a run and a RBI in Japan's latest romp. Meanwhile, 2022 Pacific League MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allows only one hit in four shutout innings, striking out eight and the bullpen is nearly as crisp: Keiji Takahashi, Taisei Ota and Atsuki Yuasa allow a combined three hits over the next four. In the 9th, the Aussies prevent a shutout when DH Alex Hall goes yard off Hiroto Takahashi.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium
Netherlands	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
Italy	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	x	7	12	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Matt Harvey (1-0), Loss: Mike Bolsenbroek (0-1)
Home Runs
Netherlands: Chadwick Tromp (1)
Umpires
HP: Roberto Ortíz (Puerto Rico); 1B: Dan Iassogna (USA); 2B: Serge Makouchetchev (France); 3B: Trent Thomas (Australia)
Time of Game: 3:00 Attendance: 4,985

Like Taiwan, the Netherlands fails to clinch a spot in the second round. Instead, Italy wins to force a five-way tie in the closely-matched Pool at 2-2. The tiebreaker becomes which teams allowed the fewest runs per inning; as a result, Cuba and Italy advance when both staved off elimination today with excellent pitching performances. The Netherlands, the first team in the tournament to go to 2-0, meanwhile was eliminated.

The long-time rivals for the European Championship squared off, but in Italy's case, the team was almost entirely Italian-American rather than from Italy. Matt Harvey took the hill for "Italy" while Jaydenn Estanista started for the Netherlands. After two shutout innings, Dutch C Chadwick Tromp opened the third with a homer. Harvey and his relievers Andre Pallante, Joe LaSorsa, Vinny Nittoli, Matt Festa and Mitchell Stumpo shut out the Netherlands (with 8 MLB-experienced players in the starting lineup) the rest of the game, though.

Mike Bolsenbroek took over for Estanista and pitched a scoreless third. In the fourth, Italy got all the offense they would need - and then some. RF Dominic Fletcher doubled and C Brett Sullivan singled him in. 1B Vinnie Pasquantino singled. After an out, DH Vito Friscia got plunked and a wild pitch scored Sullivan with what would be the winning run. CF Ben DeLuzio singled in an insurance run. After an out, LF Sal Frelick singled in another. Eric Mendez took over but LF Nicky Lopez greeted him with a two-run triple for a six-run inning. They tacked on one more in the 8th against Kevin Kelly when Friscia walked, 3B David Fletcher hit a one-out single and Frelick added a RBI single for his third hit of the day.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	x	3	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Richard Bleier (1-0), Loss: Jonathan Loáisiga (0-1), Save: Robert Stock (1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Maikol Tibabijo (Colombia); 1B: Ron Kulpa (USA); 2B: Tim Meyer (Germany); 3B: Andy Fletcher (USA)
Time of Game: 2:55 Attendance: 19,955

Nicaragua again gets just one run; this time, it was almost but not quite enough. They turned to a guy who had actually pitched for another country in the qualifiers - Ronald Medrano had thrown for Spain but now was representing his birthland. He ran into trouble in the first, allowing four baserunners, but escaped unscathed. 3B Garrett Stubbs singled but 2B Zack Gelof hit into a double play. CF Joc Pederson was plunked, then ran into third on a hit by 1B Matt Mervis. RF Alex Dickerson walked to load them up but veteran C Ryan Lavarnway went down swinging to leave them loaded.

Both teams got a couple men aboard in the second, as did Nicaragua in the third, but again runners were stranded. After Dean Kremer (the first Israeli citizen to be drafted) went four scoreless, Josh Wolf relieved in the 5th. RF Sandy Bermúdez drew a walk and was bunted over. SS Steven Leytón doubled him in but was thrown out trying for third. Israel loaded the bases in the 6th, this time with one out, but Carlos Téller came in and got PH Danny Valencia to hit into a rally-killing twin killing.

Things quieter down until the 8th. Nicaragua turned to Yankees hurler Jonathan Loáisiga. With one out, Dickerson singled and Lavarnway was hit by a pitch. DH Spencer Horwitz singled in Dickerson to tie the game. LF Noah Mendlinger was intentionally walked. SS Michael Wielansky hit a comebacker which wound up as a force at home. Stubbs then came up with the crucial two-run double that put Israel ahead. Robert Stock went 1-2-3 in the 9th to save it, getting 3B Benjamín Alegría on a grounder then fanning the 4 and 5 hitters, 1B Cheslor Cuthbert and DH Elián Miranda

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
at Chase Field
United Kingdom	3	1	1	3	0	0	0	8	8	2
Canada	5	1	4	6	1	1	x	18	17	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Phillippe Aumont (1-0), Loss: Akeel Morris (0-1)
Home Runs
Great Britain: Harry Ford (1) Canada: Edouard Julien (1), Owen Caissie (1)
Umpires
HP: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 1B: Bill Miller (USA); 2B: Jhonatan Biarreta (Venezuela); 3B: Carlos Torres (Venezuela)
Time of Game: 3:38 Attendance: 11,555

Canada started off its tournament with a mercy rule win over Great Britain in what was the highest-scoring game in tournament history. It was far from a cakewalk, as the underdog Brits stunned Canadian starter Cal Quantrill by chasing him in the 1st inning thanks to 2 hits, 4 walks and 3 stolen bases - two of them coming a successful double steal in which leadoff hitter Chavez Young stole home for the team's first run. Quantrill had already allowed three runs and had loaded the bases when manager Ernie Whitt pulled him from the game in favor of veteran Phillippe Aumont, who had come out of retirement for the tournament. Aumont stopped the bleeding by getting #9 hitter Anfernee Seymour to hit the ball back to him, then barely outraced him to the first base bag to end a traumatic half-inning. However, before Great Britain could savor its accomplishment, Edouard Julien drove the first pitch from Akeel Morris deep into the right field stance, and it was now the Canadians who went to work on the opposite starter. By the time reliever Cam Opp recorded the final out of the frame, the Canadians had batted around and pushed five runs across to take a lead they would never relinquish. Great Britain's pitchers allowed three walks in the inning - on their way to issuing the ungodly total of 16 - and 1B Nick Ward committed a key error, also an omen on a day when sloppy defensive play would be a frequent problem for the Brits. For Canada, the big inning was a liberation, as they had managed to score all of three runs in losing all three games in 2017.

To their credit, the British players continued to fight, scrapping a run against Aumont in the 2nd and another against Evan Rutckyj in the 3rd. But the Canadians also kept on scoring, adding a run in the 2nd and then having another outburst in the 3rd when Owen Caissie led off with a homer that bounced off the top of the center field wall. Jacob Robson followed by laying down a perfect bunt single on which P McKenzie Mills was unable to make a clean throw to first base, and a walk and a single loaded the bases. Tyler O'Neill then cleared them with a double, and it was 10-5 for Canada. But Whitt let Rutckyj pitch another inning, not wanting to use some of his better pitchers with the game still in its infancy, and it almost cost him dearly as he allowed a three-run blast to clean-up hitter Harry Ford, the young catcher demonstrating why he was considered the Seattle Mariners' top prospect. Worse, Rutckyj then walked BJ Murray Jr. with two outs, and Darnell Sweeney thought he had tied the game with a big swing against Curtis Taylor. However, the ball stayed in the yard, hitting the top of the center field fence, and because both Murray and Sweeney had stood to admire the majestic blast, they ended up on second and third base when Murray should have scored uncontested. The score was still 10-8, and Great Britain would never put another man on base the rest of the game, as Taylor struck out D'Shawn Knowles to end the inning.

Canada then went to work padding its lead with another big inning in the bottom of the 4th. It was not a pretty affair as it involved two pitching changes, five walks, some more sloppy defensive work, and only one extra-base hit, a double by Robson, who had four hits on the day, to start things off. By the time Julien struck out to end the inning, the Canadians had batted around for the third time in four innings and now led 16-8. That's when their pitchers went to work: Taylor retired the Brits in order and John Axford, another grey-beard coming out of retirement for the chance to represent his country, did the same in the 6th, while the Canadians pushed across a run in the bottom of both innings, making the score 18-8. Ernie Whitt knew he could end the game immediately if he prevented Great Britain from scoring in the top of the 7th, so he sent in his closer, Matt Brash, who completely overpowered the three batters he faced, throwing triple-digit heat past Murray, Sweeney and Knowles and whiffing all three to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Venezuela	4	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	9	12	1
Puerto Rico	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	6	7	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Pablo López (1-0), Loss: José Berríos (0-1), Save: Silvino Bracho (1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Anthony Santander (2), Salvador Pérez (1) Puerto Rico: Eddie Rosario (1)
Umpires
HP: Chris Guccione (USA); 1B: Chris Graham (Canada); 2B: Alejandro Pecero (Panama); 3B: Mike Estabrook (USA)
Time of Game: 3:36 Attendance: 35,615

Venezuela was in the driver's seat of the powerful Pool D. Two-time All-Star José Berríos could not shut down their mighty attack. The trouble began early when Venezuelan 2B José Altuve hit into an error by his counterpart, former Gold Glove winner Javier Báez. After a grounder advanced Altuve, CF Ronald Acuña Jr. (playing for Venezuela 12 years after his father did) drew a walk and C Salvador Pérez singled in a run. RF Anthony Santander went deep and it was quickly 4-0. Things got worse for Puerto Rico in the second. Altuve doubled and 1B Luis Arráez singled. Fernando Cruz relieved and got Acuña but Pérez smashed a three-run shot. He would finish 4-for-4 with three runs and five RBI, falling a triple shy of a cycle. Pablo López allowed one run in 4 2/3 IP. While the middle bullpen faltered, Silvino Bracho closed it out with two scoreless innings to wrap it up for the South American power.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Mexico	2	0	1	4	0	0	0	4	0	11	15	0
United States	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	5	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Patrick Sandoval (1-0), Loss: Nick Martinez (0-1)
Home Runs
Mexico: Joey Meneses 2 (2) USA: Will Smith (1)
Umpires
HP: Alan Porter (USA); 1B: Jairo Mendoza (Nicaragua); 2B: Edwin Louisa (Netherlands); 3B: Cory Blaser (USA)
Time of Game: 3:41 Attendance: 47,534

In a tournament in which upsets had been the norm thus far, Mexico pulled off one of the biggest ones by defeating the USA handily, 11-5. It was a must-win game for Mexico, given its defeat to Colombia in extra innings in its first game, and they came out firing against Nick Martinez. It started innocuously enough when Randy Arozarena was originally called out on a ground ball, only for the call to be reversed after a video review. Two batters later, Joey Meneses hit what was the first of two homers for him in the game to give Mexico a 2-0 lead; they would never trail after that. The US did cut that lead in half in the bottom of the 2nd, on a triple by Kyle Tucker and a single by Tim Anderson off Patrick Sandoval, but that was as close as they would get.

The Mexicans added a run in the 3rd thanks to a less than sharp US defence, and then put up a four-spot in the 4th, highlighted by a run-scoring double by Arozarena and Meneses' second blast, this one good for three runs, followed by a momentous bat flip. Javier Assad relieved Sandoval in the 4th and continued to keep the Americans' bats in check over the next three innings. The US scored its second run in the 7th on a solo homer by Will Smith, but Mexico countered with another four-spot in the 8th, threatening to end the game early as they now had a nine-run lead. Arozarena had another run-scoring double, Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run single and Alan Trejo added an RBI single against Daniel Bard. The USA managed to score three runs in the bottom of the 8th, with Bobby Witt Jr. and Anderson the run producers, but it was too little, too late.

March 13[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Australia	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	2	8	8	0
Czech Republic	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Daniel McGrath (1-0), Loss: Marek Minařík (1-1)
Home Runs
Australia: Alex Hall (2)
Umpires
HP: Ramon De Jesus (Dominican Republic); 1B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico); 2B: Laz Diaz (USA); 3B: Fabrizio Fabrizi (Italy)
Time of Game: 3:04 Attendance: ????

Having gone 2-10 in their first four Classics, Australia had a good shot at 3-1 and a trip to the quarterfinals by facing the newcomer Czechs. The Czechs once again showed they mettle, though, keeping it a game for six innings before the Oceania power rolled past them. DH Alex Hall opened the scoring with one out in the first with a solo shot off international veteran Martin Schneider. Schneider, a real-life firefighter, didn't allow anything approaching a blaze the rest of the game, not giving up another hit in the next five innings. Australia's own off-field firefighter, RF Tim Kennelly, put out a blaze with a diving catch to rob Czech leadoff hitter Matěj Menšík. Kennelly would also make a great catch to rob 1B Martin Mužík of a hit later.

Tigers farmhand Jack O'Loughlin shut out the Czechs for the first two. With one out in the third, DH Petr Zýma singled. After a second out, Mitch Neunborn relieved and threw a wild pitch. SS Vojtěch Menšík drew a walk and a passed ball advanced Zýma. 2B Eric Sogard then hit a game-tying single. After Schneider left, Marek Minařík came in and finished off the sixth. In the 7th, though, the Southern Thunder boomed. 2B Robbie Glendinning singled, CF Aaron Whitefield drew a one-out walk and SS Logan Wade hit a two-run double.

In the top of the 8th, RF Ulrich Bojarski drew a leadoff walk and Daniel Padyšák replaced Minařík. After a wild pitch, Kennelly singled then Hall tripled in both runners for a 5-1 lead. He scored on a hit from Glendinning. The Czechs closed the gap a bit in the bottom of the inning. Vojtěch Menšík had a two-out single and Sogard singled to chase Daniel McGrath. Sam Holland took over and uncorked a wild pitch, then CF Marek Chlup hit a two-run single to make it 6-3, but the feisty Europeans got no closer. In the 9th, Australia got insurance. Wade drew a Michal Kovala walk and C Robbie Perkins singled. Jan Tomek relieved and PH Andrew Campbell bunted the runners over. Kennelly singled in Wade and Hall grounded in Perkins for his fourth RBI.

The Czechs did give Australia a bit of a scare in the bottom of the 9th. Mužík had a one-out single off Jon Kennedy then LF Willie Escala singled and PH Jakub Hajtmar singled to load the bases. 3B Jakub Kubica cut the rally short as he grounded into a double play and the tournament ended for the Czechs with a 1-3 record, ensuring a trip to the next Classic.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
South Korea	2	2	8	6	4	22	20	0
People's Republic of China	2	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Tae-in Won (1-0), Loss: Alan Carter (0-1)
Home Runs
South Korea: Kun-woo Park (2), Ha-seong Kim (3)
Umpires
HP: Stu Scheurwater (Canada); 1B: Adam Hamari (USA; 2B: Chan-Jung Chang (Taiwan); 3B: Cuti Suárez (Spain)
Time of Game: 2:37 Attendance: 14,442

Going home with a disappointing 2-2 finish, South Korea at least goes out with a bang, with a five-inning mercy rule rout (the shortest game of the tourney by innings). China, on the other hand, was forced into the qualifiers for the first time. South Korea sets a tournament record for runs in a game. RF Kun-woo Park has a grand slam among his three hits, driving in five; 3B Ha-seong Kim also hits a grand salami. LF Ji-hoon Choi, a late roster addition, scores four times. Five Koreans score at least three runs, including Byung-ho Park, who did not even start the game. Hyeong-jun So throws three hitless innings after Tae-in Won has a rough first. 1B Jie Cao drives in China's only runs while none of their six hurlers fare well, the loss going to Singapore native Alan Carter.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Dominican Republic	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	6	12	0
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Cristian Javier (1-0), Loss: JC Ramírez (0-2)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Juan Soto (1), Manny Machado (1)
Umpires
HP: Chris Graham (Canada); 1B: Mike Estabrook (USA); 2B: Maikol Tibabijo (Colombia); 3B: Angel Hernandez (Cuba)
Time of Game: 3:09 Attendance: 31,696

For the third straight game, Nicaragua only manages one run, while the Dominicans get their first victory. LF Juan Soto began the contest with a hit off JC Ramírez and scored on a two-out double by DH Rafael Devers. Soto again started things in the third, drawing a walk. Two outs later, Devers drew a walk from reliever Dilmer Mejía. RF Eloy Jiménez singled in Soto.

In the 4th, the Dominicans got a run without Soto contributing a role. Fidencio Flores came in to pitch and surrendered three straight hits, to SS Willy Adames, 1B Jeimer Candelario and C Francisco Mejía to make it 3-0. Soto then lined into a double play. Junior Téllez relieved Flores and CF Julio Rodríguez greeted him with a run-scoring single.

Soto took Téllez deep in the sixth then 3B Manny Machado went yard off Joaquin Acuña in the seventh. Cristian Javier, Diego Castillo, Rafael Montero and César Valdéz kept Nicaragua off the scoreboard until the 8th. That inning, SS Steven Leytón had a one-out single, then 3B Benjamín Alegría doubled and DH Milkar Pérez walked to load the bases. Elián Miranda delivered a pinch-hit single to score Leytón but Soto now chipped in in the field, throwing out Alegría trying to score on the play. Miranda now had two of Nicaragua's three RBI for the tournament. Duque hebbert won acclaim by striking out Soto, Rodríguez and Devers in the 9th, earning the amateur hurler a pro deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Colombia	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	5	7	2
United Kingdom	0	0	0	3	2	0	2	0	x	7	7	2
Pitchers of Record
Win: Graham Spraker (1-0), Loss: Yapson Gómez (0-1), Save: Ian Gibaut (1)
Home Runs
Great Britain: Harry Ford (2) Colombia: Dilson Herrera (1)
Umpires
HP: Jhonatan Biarreta (Venezuela); 1B: Cory Blaser (USA); 2B:Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 3B: Doug Eddings (USA)
Time of Game: 3:50 Attendance: 10,416

After blowing leads the last two games, Great Britain gets their first WBC win in comeback fashion. Colombia got to Tyler Viza in the second. C Meibrys Viloria reached on a one-out, two-base error by SS Darnell Sweeney and advanced on a grounder by 2B Jordan Díaz. CF Oscar Mercado singled in Viloria. In the 4th, Viza walked Viloria, Díaz and Mercado. Graham Spraker took over then SS Dayan Frías (the #9 hitter) singled in a pair.

Britain came back in the bottom of the inning. C Harry Ford singled off William Cuevas and 1B Nick Ward coaxed a walk. Julio Vivas relieved and made an error on a pick-off attempt, then 3B BJ Murray Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Sweeney and LF Jaden Rudd drew Britain's third and fourth walks of the inning. Colombia tried their third hurler of the frame, Yapson Gómez. He struck out 2B Anfernee Seymour but RF Chavez Young singled in a pair to tie it.

Great Britain went ahead in the fifth. Ward had a one-out single and advanced on a grounder, then Sweeney was intentionally walked. After a wild pitch, Rudd doubled in both runners for a 5-3 lead. Ford opened the bottom of the seventh with a dinger off Jasier Herrera, letting him wear Britain's Home Run Crown and Cape. Ward walked, Rubén Galindo relieved but Sweeney greeted him with a double. A wild pitch scored Ward. In the top of the 9th, PH Dilson Herrera homered off Ian Gibaut to close it to 7-4. LF Harold Ramírez reached on a two-base error by Murray. After an out, DH Jorge Alfaro singled and Gibaut had a wild pitch to make it 2nd-and-3rd. 1B Reynaldo Rodríguez grounded in a run. Viloria came up as the potential tying run but went down swinging against Gibaut to give the Brits a win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Puerto Rico	3	3	0	3	0	0	0	1	10	11	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: José De Leon (1-0), Loss: Colton Gordon (0-1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Ron Kulpa (USA); 1B: Alejandro Pecero (Panama); 2B: Chris Guccione (USA); 3B: Tim Meyer (Germany)
Time of Game: 2:30 Attendance: 27,813

Puerto Rico not only got the second WBC no-hitter, 17 years after Shairon Martis did it against Panama, but they threw the first perfect game in tournament history. José De Leon kicked it off, fanning ten of seventeen batters he faced in a lineup that had five MLB veterans and some other players who might make it there. Yacksel Ríos retired one batter then Edwin Díaz and Duane Underwood Jr. each worked one inning to finish off the gem.

Astros farmhand Colton Gordon had no such success against the islanders. After getting two outs, he walked DH MJ Melendez. 3B Emmanuel Rivera singled and 2B Javier Báez smacked a two-run double to left. He stole third then scored on a double from LF Eddie Rosario. The game ended after eight due to the mercy rule as Enrique Hernandez singled in C Martin Maldonado with the game-ender. SS Francisco Lindor finished with three RBI and Maldonado scored three in addition to catching the perfecto.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Canada	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
United States	9	3	0	0	0	0	x	12	10	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Lance Lynn (1-0), Loss: Mitch Bratt (0-1)
Home Runs
USA: Mike Trout (1), Trea Turner (1) Canada: Jared Young (1)
Umpires
HP: Bill Miller (USA); 1B: Edwin Louisa (Netherlands); 2B: Alan Porter (USA); 3B: Jairo Mendoza (Nicaragua)
Time of Game: 2:20 Attendance: 29,621

Canada's strategy coming into the tournament was to work hard to beat Great Britain, Mexico and Colombia in order to finish second in its pool, without much hope of defeating a strong U.S. squad. So they decided to send one of their youngest pitchers, Mitch Bratt, to start this game, keeping their better starters for the three key match-ups. Perhaps they had hoped that the Americans would take this game lightly, but after a surprise loss to Mexico the day before, it was not going to be the case: they needed the win, and they would not make the young Canadian pitcher any favors, making sure that the outcome of the game was never in doubt.

After Lance Lynn disposed of the Canadians in the top of the 1st, the Americans went to work on the 19-year-old Bratt, chasing him after only one out and scoring no less than 9 runs in their half of the inning. Mookie Betts led off with a single, Mike Trout followed with a four-pitch walk, and Paul Goldschmidt drew a walk as well to load the bases. Nolan Arenado singled in the first two runs, Kyle Tucker hit a sacrifice fly. Bratt then walked Tim Anderson and J.T. Realmuto ended his outing with a run-scoring single. R.J. Freure did not fare much better on the mound, as Trea Turner drove in another run on a fielder's choice and Cedric Mullins hit a triple to make it 6-0. After Freure plunked Betts, Trout hit a three-run jack to make it 9-0.

The rest of the game was academic. Jared Young led off the bottom of the second with a homer off Lynn for Canada's lone run, and then it was a question of whether the U.S. would be able to end the game early via the mercy rule. They added tree more runs in the bottom of the 2nd, as Anderson hit another triple and Turner homered. The U.S. could not build a 15-run lead, but their 12-1 advantage was enough to bring the game to an end after 6 1/2 innings. The only good to come out of this for Canada was that they did not need to use any of their top-tier pitchers, given how quickly the game had gotten out of hand.

March 14[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Nicaragua	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	11	0
Venezuela	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	x	4	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: José Ruiz (2-0), Loss: Rodney Theophile (0-1), Save: José Alvarado (1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Angel Hernandez (Cuba); 1B: Chris Guccione (USA); 2B: Alejandro Pecero (Panama); 3B: Tim Meyer (Germany)
Time of Game: 2:53 Attendance: 21,873

Nicaragua joined Spain (2013) and South Africa (2006, 2009) as the only countries to have played in a World Baseball Classic without ever winning a WBC game (to date). They again eked out only one run, though their pitchers held the potent Venezuelan offense in check fairly well.

The Central Americans started well as SS Steven Leytón and 3B Benjamín Alegría singled off Eduardo Rodríguez; it was the first of three hits for Alegría. After an out, 1B Cheslor Cuthbert singled, bringing up DH Elián Miranda, who had two of Nicaragua's three RBI on the Classic. This time, he did not come through, hitting into a double play. Nicaragua again rapped Rodríguez in the second. LF Norlando Valle, C Rodolfo Bone and CF Juan Montes (the first Guatemalan in WBC history) all singled. Leytón hit a run-scoring grounder. Despite seven hits in two innings off Rodríguez, it was Nicaragua's lone run. They only got four hits the rest of the way against the likes of José Ruiz, Carlos Hernández, José Quijada, Silvino Bracho and José Alvarado.

Erasmo Ramírez shut out Venezuela for the first three innings. Things turned south after Rodney Theophile relieved as the South American offense woke up. 1B Luis Arráez drew a out, but was erased when CF Ronald Acuña Jr. hit into a force. Acuña stole second then RF Anthony Santander walked. Veteran DH Miguel Cabrera, the only person to bat in all five Classics, went down swinging. Leo Crawford replaced Theophile and SS Andrés Giménez greeted him with a game-tying single. 3B Eugenio Suárez singled in a pair and Venezuela had the winning hit. They tacked on one more in the fifth when LF Luis Rengifo singled and scored on a two-out double by Santander off Osman Gutiérrez.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Canada	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	5	10	0
Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Noah Skirrow (1-0), Loss: Adrián Almeida (0-1)
Home Runs
Canada: Otto Lopez (1)
Umpires
HP: Doug Eddings (USA); 1B: Alan Porter (USA); 2B: Jairo Mendoza (Nicaragua); 3B: Edwin Louisa (Netherlands)
Time of Game: 2:48 Attendance: 10,571

Today's game was a must-win for both teams, who were coming off shocking losses the day before. Canada had been blown off the field by the U.S., while Colombia had suffered a huge upset by losing to Great Britain. However, Canada was the team that bounced back, playing an almost flawless game to defeat Colombia, 5-0. For the second straight day, the Canadian starter had no major league experience, but Noah Skirrow had a world of experience more than Mitch Bratt who had been schooled by the Americans: he was 23, had pitched in AAA, and was knocking on the door of the majors. If today's performance was any indication, he was going to be pitching in the Show before long. He limited the Colombians to two hits and one walk over five innings - and his teammates pulled off three double plays to erase all of these baserunners before they could do any harm. Colombia made a smart choice by tasking lefty Adrián Almeida to face the Canadians, given how lefthanded-heavy their line-up was - and he also did well, but lasted only three innings and two batters. When Tyler O'Neill led off the top of the 4th with a single and Almeida hit the next batter, Jared Young, with a pitch, he gave way to another lefty, Reiver Sanmartin. The reliever almost got out of the inning without harm, but with two outs, Bo Naylor dropped a single between a trio of converging fielders, and O'Neill scored the game's first run.

The score stayed at 1-0 for Canada until the 8th, although the runners left on base figure was more telling about how the game was going to that point: the Canadians had stranded nine, and the Colombians just one, against reliever Curtis Taylor in the 6th. The biggest story was that Canada had had to remove its best player, 1B Freddie Freeman, from the game with a thigh injury. In the 8th, however, Otto Lopez led off with a triple against Pedro Garcia, and after two outs, Owen Caissie singled to left to double Canada's lead. They then loaded the bases, but Denzel Clarke, who had come in for Freeman, hit into a fielder's choice, stranding all three runners. However, Canada could now use its top relievers, and Trevor Brigden completely overwhelmed the three Colombian hitters he faced in the 8th, with two strikeouts and a soft grounder. In the 9th, Canada finally cashed in some runners when Lopez went deep with two men on base. With a 5-0 lead, Ernie Whitt sat down his closer, Matt Brash, who had been warming up, and instead asked old-timer Scott Mathieson, a veteran of countless tournaments for Canada, to finish the game. He put a couple of runners on, but then was again helped by his defense as Canada turned its fourth DP of the game. Gio Urshela then flied out to LF Jacob Robson on the next pitch to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Dominican Republic	1	0	2	0	0	4	3	10	15	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Roansy Contreras (1-0), Loss: Jacob Steinmetz (0-1)
Home Runs
Dominican Republic: Manny Machado (2)
Umpires
HP: Mike Estabrook (USA); 1B: Andy Fletcher (USA); 2B: Chris Graham (Canada); 3B: Maikol Tibabijo (Colombia)
Time of Game: 2:44 Attendance: 33,307

Coming off being victimized by a perfect game the previous day, the Israelis faced another tough challenge today against the Dominican Republic dream team - and it did not go much better. There was little hope of pulling off what would have been a huge upset with 19-year-old Jacob Steinmetz taking the mound against a group of major league All-Stars, but the youngster did better than his Canadian counterpart Mitch Bratt had done against the USA the day before, allowing one run on two hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings before being relieved by Evan Kravetz. In fact, Israel's pitchers managed to keep the game close for the first five innings, as the Dominicans were trying to do too much at the plate and not taking advantage of what was given them. Only a huge solo homer to deep left field by Manny Machado off Kravetz in the 3rd reflected the imbalance in power between the two squads. The other two early runs came on a single by Eloy Jimenez with two outs in the 1st and a double by Ketel Marte against Andrew Gross shortly after Machado's homer.

The big problem for Israel was that it could not generate anything at the plate. After making 24 straight outs the day before, the first six Israeli batters made outs as well against Contreras before Spencer Horwitz finally broke the skein with a single up the middle to lead off the 3rd. Unfortunately, he would be the only batter to reach base all game, as the four Dominican pitchers did not issue a single walk and struck out ten in completing a one-hitter. The Dominicans finally broke the game open in the 6th when they scored four runs as Julio Rodríguez doubled with the bases loaded off Kyle Molnar and Machado drove in two more with a single off Bubby Rossman. The Dominicans inserted some of their substitutes into the game in the top of the 7th, with two forty-somethings, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, playing first base and right field respectively. Hector Neris retired the side in order with Cruz recording the final out in right, and the Dominicans knew they could now end the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning. On the mound was Adam Katz, better known for his innovative sneaker designs than for his pitching, and he was overmatched. Jeremy Peña led off with a double, then the two greybeards, Cano and Cruz, both singled. With two outs, a passed ball by C C.J. Stubbs, added to the roster before the game to replace his injured brother, Garrett, advanced both runners 90 feet, and another substitute, Jean Segura, playing third base in place of Machado, ended things with an automatic double that bounced over the fence in right-center for a 10-0 final score.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
United Kingdom	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	1
Mexico	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	x	2	6	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: JoJo Romero (1-0), Loss: Tahnaj Thomas (0-1), Save: Giovanny Gallegos (1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Cory Blaser (USA); 1B: Carlos Torres (Venezuela); 2B: Felix Tejada (Dominican Republic); 3B: Jhonatan Biarreta (Venezuela)
Time of Game: 3:05 Attendance: 17,705

Britain put up a fight before finishing their first Classic at 1-3. Mexico got to starter Joseph King in the second inning. 3B Isaac Paredes singled to left and SS Alan Trejo drew a one-out walk. King threw a wild pitch but struck out CF Jarren Duran to bring up C Alexis Wilson. Wilson, originally slated to be Mexico's bullpen catcher before Alejandro Kirk withdrew, singled to bring in Paredes.

Taijuan Walker, Erubiel Armenta and Manny Barreda held Britain scoreless for the first five. In the sixth, RF Chavez Young doubled off Barreda. With two outs, he stole third, his fifth steal of this tournament. That tied Tsuyoshi Nishioka's 17-year-old record. C Harry Ford walked, then JoJo Romero relieved bu 3B BJ Murray Jr. greeted him with a game-tying single.

After Ryan Long and Donovan Benoit turned in 4 1/3 shutout innings for Britain, they turned to Pirates farmhand Tahnaj Thomas in the 7th. He walked Trejo. After an out, a wild pitch sent Trejo to second then it was Wilson's turn to strike again, as he delivered his second RBI single of the day. Jesús Cruz and Giovanny Gallegos shut out the Brits in the 8th and 9th, Gallegos going 1-2-3 against Ford, Murray and PH Alex Crosby to end it.

March 15[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Australia	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	5	1
Cuba	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	x	4	7	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Miguel Romero (2-0), Loss: Josh Guyer (0-1), Save: Raidel Martínez (1)
Home Runs
Australia: Rixon Wingrove (1)
Umpires
HP: Adam Hamari (USA); 1B: Cuti Suárez (Spain); 2B: Laz Diaz (USA); 3B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico)
Time of Game: 3:24 Attendance: 35,061

Cuba bounced back from an 0-2 start to make it to the semifinals for the first time since the first WBC 17 years prior, while Australia came close and still locked up their best WBC by far to this point. Cuba turned to Yariel Rodríguez, no stranger to pitching in Japan, while Australia countered with Steven Kent, who had debuted for the country 15 years prior.

The Southern Thunder struck in the second when 3B Darryl George led off with a double, then CF Aaron Whitefield bunted him over and 1B Rixon Wingrove singled him home. Rodríguez walked five in 3 1/3 IP but did not allow any other hits or runs - despite walking the bases full in the third. In the bottom of the third, Mitch Neunborn took over for Kent and LF Roel Santos drew a walk. 3B Yoán Moncada doubled and CF Luis Robert grounded in Santos to tie it. Miguel Romero replaced Rodríguez after two walks to the first three batters in the fourth and escaped that jam.

Santos and Moncada again got it going in the 5th, this time starting the winning rally. Santos singled off Josh Guyer and Moncada walked. Sam Holland relieved but hit Robert to bring up DH Alfredo Despaigne, the all-time WBC home run king. He didn't hit one out but hit it far enough to score Santos. SS Erisbel Arruebarrena singled to load the bases. Australia next tried Jon Kennedy but RF Yoelkis Guibert hit a two-run single to give Cuba a 4-1 cushion. They would need all of it and soon. Whitefield singled off Roenis Elías to open the sixth then Wingrove went deep to cut it to 4-3. Australia got two more on but Elías got out of the situation.

In the eighth, veteran Liván Moinelo walked Cuba's 6th and 7th batters of the day, SS Logan Wade and C Robbie Perkins, but he struck out LF Ulrich Bojarski and retired RF Tim Kennelly to escape the jam. Raidel Martínez (like Rodríguez and Moinelo, a NPB veteran pitching in the Tokyo Dome) went 1-2-3 in the ninth against the 2-3-4 batters: Alex Hall, Robbie Glendinning and George, bookending the inning with strikeouts.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Venezuela	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	10	0
Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	9	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jesús Luzardo (1-0), Loss: Robert Stock (0-1)
Home Runs
Venezuela: Eugenio Suárez (1), Eduardo Escobar (1)
Umpires
HP: Andy Fletcher (USA); 1B: Angel Hernandez (Cuba); 2B: Maikol Tibabijo (Colombia); 3B: Alejandro Pecero (Panama)
Time of Game: 2:47 Attendance: 18,277

Jesús Luzardo became the first Peruvian to play in a World Baseball Classic. He turned in four shutout innings to get the win. Before he threw a pitch, he had all the offense he needed as the 2017 Cinderella team finished this year at 1-3. 2B José Altuve began the game with a hit off Robert Stock and RF Anthony Santander also singled, but DH Gleyber Torres hit into a double play. After Stock hit C Salvador Pérez, CF Ronald Acuña Jr. singled in Altuve. After a wild pitch, SS Andrés Giménez drew a walk. 1B Eugenio Suárez singled in a pair, the first of his three hits.

Venezuela's only other runs came on solo shots - in the 4th by 3B Eduardo Escobar off Jake Fishman and in the 6th by Suárez off Zack Weiss. Israel got their first run since their opener, in the 7th inning. With two outs, 3B Noah Mendlinger singled, one of his three hits. SS Michael Wielansky also singled off Enmanuel De Jesus then CF Jakob Goldfarb singled in Mendlinger.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
Mexico	2	1	0	0	0	4	2	1	0	10	10	0
Canada	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	7	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: José Urquidy (1-0), Loss: Rob Zastryzny (0-1)
Home Runs
Mexico: Rowdy Tellez (1) Canada: Bo Naylor (1), Edouard Julien (2)
Umpires
HP: Carlos Torres (Venezuela); 1B: Doug Eddings (USA); 2B: Jhonatan Biarreta (Venezuela); 3B: Edwin Louisa (The Netherlands)
Time of Game: 3:31 Attendance: 17,245

Everything was on the line in this game, with the winner ensured of moving on (and if it was Mexico, of finishing at the top pf the group standings), and the loser almost certain to be eliminated. There was a big discrepancy in terms of talent on the mound, with Jose Urquidy, an established veteran with numerous postseason starts under his belt, going for Mexico, against journeyman Rob Zastryzny, whose major league experience was spotty and mainly as a reliever. Mexico took advantage of Zatryzny's wildness to score two runs in the top of the 1st, without a single hard-hit ball: Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch in a decision contested by the Canadian bench, who claimed the ball had glanced off his bat first, then after one out Joey Meneses was safe on a soft single to third base. Both runners advanced on a balk by Zastryzny and Rowdy Tellez hit a soft single to right to drive them in. Canada replied immediately, but wasted a chance to put up crooked numbers: Edouard Julien led off the bottom of the 1st with a double, and a single by Abraham Toro and a walk to Tyler O'Neill loaded the bases with nobody out. But the Canadians were only able to cash in one run, as Jared Young in a soft fly ball to shallow left, Otto Lopez singled but runners advanced only 90 feet, Bo Naylor struck out and Owen Caissie grounded out. That wasted opportunity would loom big as Canada would never be able to tie the score after that.

Mexico added another run against Zastryzny in the 2nd after he inexplicably walked Austin Barnes on four pitches after two quick outs; it was the first of three walks to Mexico's #9 hitter, whom the Canadian hurlers treated for some reason as if he was a reincarnation of Babe Ruth. Arozarena made them pay for the mistake by hitting a double that was misplayed by RF Caissie, even if no error was charged. Had he relayed the ball cleanly to the infield, Caissie would have either held Barnes at third or thrown him out at home, but instead it was 3-1. There was little scoring over the next few innings, except for a solo homer by Naylor off Urquidy to lead off the bottom of the 4th, bringing Canada back within one at 3-2. Canada's first two relievers, veterans Phillippe Aumont and Andrew Albers did a good job of keeping Mexico's bats in check during that span.

It all came crashing down in the 6th inning when Albers issued a lead-off walk to Luis Urias and after a first out, a single to Alek Thomas. There was more sloppy outfield play on this ball as CF Denzel Clarke, in the game due to Freddie Freeman having had to leave the team the day before due to a hamstring injury, misplayed the ball and allowed both runners to advance an extra 90 feet. Cade Smith replaced Albers on the mound, but he did not have anything working that day: he walked Barnes to load the bases then Arozarena, after barely missing a grand slam on a ball that went past the wrong side of the left field foul pole, hit a double to left, clearing the bases. It was now 6-3, and the writing was on the wall for Canada. Going for the jugular, Meneses added another single with two outs to make it 7-3. Mexico then kept adding runs against a battered Canadian bullpen, with two more in the 7th, and a solo homer by Tellez off Indigo Diaz in the 8th. Canada scored one more run, on a solo homer by Julien against Samuel Zazueta in the bottom of the 7th, but it had no impact on the final outcome as Mexico won handily, 10-3 and eliminated Canada, which had still failed to advance to the second round in five appearances in the tournament.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Puerto Rico	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	8	0
Dominican Republic	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Jovani Moran (1-0), Loss: Johnny Cueto (0-1), Save: Edwin Díaz (1)
Home Runs
Puerto Rico: Christian Vázquez (1) Dominican Republic: Juan Soto (2)
Umpires
HP: Chris Guccione (USA); 1B: Ron Kulpa (USA); 2B: Chris Graham (Canada); 3B: Tim Meyer (Germany)
Time of Game: 3:13 Attendance: 36,025

The two powerhouses (the 2013 champion vs. the 2017 runner-up) met up with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake. The game was raucous with plenty of noise from drumming of the fans for each team. Johnny Cueto started strong for the Dominicans, facing the minimum over the first two innings. Meanwhile, the Dominicans had a shot in the second against Fernando Cruz as SS Wander Franco had a one-out single and 1B Jeimer Candelario drew a two-out walk. Jovani Moran relieved and threw a wild pitch but recovered to strike out C Francisco Mejía. In the top of the third, Cueto faded. DH Christian Vázquez homered then 1B Vimael Machín singled and 36-year-old C Martin Maldonado laid down a bunt hit. Bryan Abreu came in to try to put out the fire but SS Francisco Lindor and CF Enrique Hernandez brought the gasoline, each singling in a run to make it 3-0. RF MJ Melendez grounded in Lindor and Puerto Rico had all the offense they would need.

LF Juan Soto took Moran deep in the bottom of the third to cut it to 4-1. In the top of the 5th, facing Yimi García, Lindor got a Little League homer when he singled and CF Julio Rodríguez made an error that let Lindor race around the bases. In the bottom of the inning, the Dominicans made up the run against Alexis Díaz. Mejía and Soto walked, Rodríguez singled and 3B Manny Machado hit into a run-scoring double play but the powerful Dominican attack mustered nothing further. In the 6th, they threatened against Nicholas Padilla on hits by RF Eloy Jiménez and Candelario but Padilla escaped the jam.

Jorge López went 1-2-3 in the 7th, fanning Soto and Rodríguez. Duane Underwood Jr. had a 1-2-3 eighth against DH Rafael Devers, Jiménez (K) and Franco. Edwin Díaz closed it out in fashion, striking out the side to make it ten straight by Puerto Rican relievers - he got 2B Ketel Marte, PH Jean Segura and PH Teoscar Hernández. Unfortunately, he injured his knee in the post-game celebrations and had to be helped off in a wheelchair, casting a cloud over the Puerto Rican joy.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at Chase Field
United States	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	7	0
Colombia	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Kendall Graveman (1-0), Loss: Rubén Galindo (0-1), Save: Ryan Pressly (1)
Home Runs
None
Umpires
HP: Alan Porter (USA); 1B: Bill Miller (USA); 2B: Jairo Mendoza (Nicaragua); 3B: Roberto Peralta (Panama)
Time of Game: 3:02 Attendance: 29,856

The US locked up the last quarterfinal spot but it was far from a breeze as Colombia showed that even the mightiest lineup can be contained fairly well. CF Mike Trout began a big day with a one-out triple off Luis De Avila in the first but was stranded when 3B Nolan Arenado hit into an inning-ending double play two batters later. In the second, Colombia loaded the bases against Merrill Kelly on a walk by C Jorge Alfaro, single by DH Meibrys Viloria and walk by LF Jesús Marriaga but Kelly got 2B Fabián Pertuz to pop up and SS Dayan Frías on a grounder.

In the third, the US went ahead. RF Mookie Betts had a two-out single off Santiago Florez, stole and scored on a hit by Trout. Colombia took the lead in the bottom of the inning, striking back against Kelly. CF Oscar Mercado doubled and took third on a grounder by RF Harold Ramírez. 3B Gio Urshela hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. Alfaro singled and DH Reynaldo Rodriguez doubled for a 2-1 Colombian advantage. The US bullpen of Kendall Graveman, Daniel Bard, David Bednar, Jason Adam, Devin Williams and Ryan Pressly allowed only two hits and one walk in six scoreless innings and struck out nine to shut down the South Americans the rest of the way.

The US took the lead back in the fifth. C Will Smith drew a walk from Rubén Galindo and advanced on a wild pitch. Galindo fanned SS Trea Turner but Betts singled and went to second on the throw to third. Jasier Herrera came in but Trout greeted him with the game-winning two-run single, his third hit of the day. He had provided all the US RBI to make up for oh-fers by players like Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber and Tim Anderson.

March 16[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at the Tokyo Dome
Italy	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	3	8	1
Japan	0	0	4	0	3	0	2	0	x	9	8	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shohei Ohtani (2-0), Loss: Joe LaSorsa (0-1)
Home Runs
Japan: Kazuma Okamoto (1) Masataka Yoshida (1) Italy: Dominic Fletcher (1)
Umpires
HP: Pat Hoberg (USA); 1B: Laz Diaz (USA); 2B: Delfin Colon (Puerto Rico); 3B: Cuti Suárez (Spain)
Time of Game: 3:24 Attendance: 41,723

The Japanese juggernaut came in 4-0 and was playing at home against a 2-2 Italian team that eked out a spot in the second round, but the tournament had already seen its share of upsets. Japan took no chances, turning to ace Shohei Ohtani while Italy went with Ryan Castellani.

Japan threatened early as Lars Nootbaar singled and RF Kensuke Kondoh walked to bring up Ohtani but Castellani retired the Pool B MVP then LF Masataka Yoshida popped up and 3B Munetaka Murakami went down on Ks. Japan got two more walks from Castellani in the second but 1B Kazuma Okamoto was thrown out stealing by Brett Sullivan. In the third, Mike Piazza turned to bullpen hero Joe LaSorsa but he didn't have the same success as against the Netherlands. He retired Nootbaar but Kondoh walked and Ohtani laid down a bunt single, with LaSorsa's error on the play putting men on the corners. Yoshida grounded in Kondoh. After Murakami walked, Okamoto socked a three-run homer for a 4-0 lead.

Ohtani hit CF Ben DeLuzio with one out in the fifth then 3B David Fletcher singled. LF Sal Frelick flew out but SS Nicky Lopez was hit as well, loading the bases. RF Dominic Fletcher singled in DeLuzio and his brother to make it 4-2. Hiromi Itoh succeeded Ohtani on the hill (Ohtani stayed in at DH) and retired Sullivan to stop the threat, but Japan's lead had been trimmed in half. They quickly recouped the runs and then some. Andre Pallante walked Ohtani and hit Yoshida to open the bottom of the inning. Vinny Nittoli relieved but Murakami doubled in a run then Okamoto doubled in two more to make it 7-2.

In the bottom of the 7th, Yoshida homered off Joey Marciano and Murakami doubled. Okamoto, already with five RBI, was given an intentional walk. Matt Festa replaced Marciano and got one out but SS Sosuke Genda singled in Murakami (his third run) for a 9-2 edge. Dominic Fletcher took Yu Darvish deep in the 8th; it was Darvish's first relief appearance in 12 years. That ended the scoring as Japan cruised into the semifinals.

March 17[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Puerto Rico	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
Mexico	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	x	5	9	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: JoJo Romero (2-0), Loss: Alexis Díaz (0-1), Save: Giovanny Gallegos (2)
Home Runs
Puerto Rico: Javier Báez (1), Eddie Rosario (1) Mexico: Isaac Paredes (1)
Umpires
HP: Will Little (USA); 1B: Atsushi Fukaya (Japan); 2B: Ki-taik Park (South Korea); 3B: Dan Bellino (USA)
Time of Game: 3:17 Attendance: 35,817

Puerto Rico started off red-hot and looked set for its second straight WBC semifinal before their offense went cold against Mexico's staff, and Mexico staged a winning comeback to make its first World Baseball Classic final four. Puerto Rico ended with three wins, their fewest in a Classic, while Mexico reached a new peak with its fourth win.

Mexican ace Julio Urías struggled out of the gate. He struck out SS Francisco Lindor but then walked CF Enrique Hernandez and RF Nelson Velázquez singled to put men on the corners. 3B Emmanuel Rivera's sacrifice fly made it 1-0. Urías served up back-to-back gopher balls to 2B Javier Báez and LF Eddie Rosario and Puerto Rico was up 4-0 after only two outs. Urías, Javier Assad, JoJo Romero, Jake Sanchez and Giovanny Gallegos shut out Puerto Rico the rest of the day, giving up six hits (two more by Báez) and two walks. It began right away as Urías struck out the side in the second.

Puerto Rico had 2017 WBC MVP Marcus Stroman on the hill. After a shutout first, he allowed a run in the second when 3B Isaac Paredes hit a 412-foot bomb. Puerto Rico had two hits in the fourth but a double play prevented a run. Mexico chased Stroman in the fifth with a one-out rally as CF Alek Thomas and C Austin Barnes singled, Pool C MVP LF Randy Arozarena walked and RF Alex Verdugo singled to cut it to 4-2. Yacksel Ríos escaped the jam by relieving and retiring 1B Joey Meneses and DH Rowdy Tellez, the 3 and 4 hitters.

In the bottom of the 7th, Alexis Díaz entered and Mexico went to town as Barnes doubled then Arozarena and Verdugo both walked to load them up. Jorge López came in and got Meneses then struck out Tellez. Paredes again came through, though, with a two-run single to tie it. 2B Luis Urías then singled in Verdugo with the winner. In the 8th, Puerto Rico had a shot. Backup RF MJ Melendez drew a one-out walk from Romero. Sanchez relieved and Rivera hit a shot to the warning track but Arozarena made a leaping snare to rob Puerto Rico. Báez singled for his third hit but Sanchez got Rosario on a pop-up to Barnes. DH Christian Vázquez opened the 9th with a single off Giovanny Gallegos. Gallegos retired 1B Vimael Machín and C Martin Maldonado, then Lindor singled to put the go-ahead run on base. Gallegos recovered to get Hernandez looking at strike three for his second save of the Classic.

Umpire Atsushi Fukaya was making his World Baseball Classic debut 17 years after his high school classmate Ichiro Suzuki had starred in the first WBC.

March 18[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
United States	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	4	0	9	15	0
Venezuela	2	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	7	8	3
Pitchers of Record
Win: David Bednar (1-0), Loss: José Quijada (0-1), Save: Ryan Pressly (2)
Home Runs
USA: Kyle Tucker (1), Trea Turner (2) Venezuela: Luis Arráez 2 (2)
Umpires
HP: Dan Bellino (USA); 1B: Will Little (USA); 2B: Atsushi Fukaya (Japan); 3B: Kun-young Park (South Korea)
Time of Game: 3:46 Attendance: 35,792

The defending champions and hosts fell behind before rallying to knock out Venezuela, handing the South American entry its only loss of the 2023 WBC. The US struck quickly against 2022 All-Star Martín Pérez, a WBC veteran. RF Mookie Betts singled, then CF Mike Trout singled and his fellow superstar in center, Ronald Acuña Jr. made a throwing error to score Betts and send Trout to third. 1B Paul Goldschmidt singled and the US was up 2-0 after three batters. 3B Nolan Arenado singled Goldschmidt to third. LF Kyle Tucker singled in Goldschmidt but was thrown out trying for second, the only batter Pérez would retire today. José Ruiz took over and struck out 2B Tim Anderson then got DH Kyle Schwarber on a fly to strand Arenado at third.

Venezuela struck back quickly against Lance Lynn in the bottom of the inning. 2B José Altuve led off with a single. After RF Anthony Santander popped out, 1B Luis Arráez homered to cut the US lead to one. The US had a shot in the second when C J.T. Realmuto doubled off Ruiz and SS Trea Turner walked but Betts hit into a twin killing and the mighty Trout struck out. Tucker had a two-out double in the third off Luis García but was stranded.

Schwarber and Realmuto opened the 4th with hits off García and an error by SS Andrés Giménez on the second hit made it second-and-third. After Turner grounded out, Betts hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Tucker went yard deep in the fifth for a 5-2 US lead. Venezuela stormed back in the bottom of the inning. Daniel Bard replaced Lynn and walked DH Gleyber Torres. Giménez singled and Bard plunked Altuve, breaking one of the star infielder's fingers. A wild pitch scored Torres. The wild Bard then walked Santander before Mark DeRosa gave him the hook in favor of Jason Adam. Arráez hit into a run-scoring force and C Salvador Pérez doubled to make it 5-5. Acuña's sac fly gave Venezuela their first lead of the day.

The US threatened in the 7th when Goldschmidt and Arenado had two-out singles off Carlos Hernández but José Quijada came in to strike out Tucker. Arráez hit his second homer of the day, off David Bednar in the 7th, for a 7-5 Venezuelan advantage. The US had their big inning in the 8th. Quijada walked Anderson, PH Pete Alonso singled and Realmuto was hit to load the bases. Silvino Bracho took over but Turner greeted him with the game-winning grand slam, the first US grand slam in a WBC in 10 years - David Wright had been the last to do so. Acuña had a two-out double off Devin Williams in the 8th but was stranded then Ryan Pressly went 1-2-3 in the ninth against Giménez, Eduardo Escobar and Santander to save it.

March 19[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Cuba	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	12	0
United States	2	1	2	2	2	4	0	1	x	14	14	1
Pitchers of Record
Win: Adam Wainwright (2-0), Loss: Roenis Elías (0-1)
Home Runs
USA: Paul Goldschmidt (1), Trea Turner 2 (4), Cedric Mullins (1)
Umpires
HP: John Tumpane (USA); 1B: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 2B: Lance Barksdale (USA); 3B: Jong-chul Park (South Korea), LF: Ramiro Alfaro (Colombia), RF: Edward Pinales (Dominican Republic)
Time of Game: 3:28 Attendance: 35,779

The defending champs were rocking today, moving to the finals with a rout of Cuba. Cuba started strong off Adam Wainwright as LF Roel Santos, 3B Yoán Moncada and CF Luis Robert all singled. DH Alfredo Despaigne coaxed a bases-loaded walk to force in a run. Wainwright settled down as SS Erisbel Arruebarrena grounded into a force at home, 2B Andy Ibáñez popped up and C Ariel Martínez grounded out. The US wasted little time in taking the lead for good. RF Mookie Betts doubled off Roenis Elías for the first of his three hits; one out later, 1B Paul Goldschmidt went deep. The US would score of all seven Cuban hurlers today and in seven of their eight innings. Goldschmidt finished with four RBI, while SS Trea Turner went deep twice to move within one of Seung-yeop Lee's WBC home run record of five in a tournament. Betts rapped three hits, as did Turner, who drove in four from the nine slot. Wainwright and Miles Mikolas each allowed one run in four before Aaron Loup closed it out.

March 20[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
Mexico	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	9	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	2	6	10	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Taisei Ota (1-0), Loss: Giovanny Gallegos (0-1)
Home Runs
Mexico: Luis Urías (1) Japan: Masataka Yoshida (2)
Umpires
HP: Quinn Wolcott (USA); 1B: Ramiro Alfaro (Colombia); 2B: Jong-chul Park (South Korea); 3B: Lance Barksdale (USA); LF: Edward Pinales (Dominican Republic); RF: John Tumpane (USA)
Time of Game: 3:36 Attendance: 35,933

Mexico's best WBC to date comes to an end, just short of the title game. After having beaten the two finalists from last tournament (the US and Puerto Rico), they nearly beat the only two-time champs.

The game began with stellar pitching. Young flamethrower Roki Sasaki fanned two of the first three, while Patrick Sandoval struck out the side in the first. 3B Isaac Paredes and 2B Luis Urías had one-out singles in the second but Sasaki got SS Alan Trejo to hit into a double play. Mexico got to Sasaki in the 4th as DH Rowdy Tellez had a two-out single, Paredes singled and quarterfinals hero Urías again came up big, this time with a three-run 403' bomb.

In the 4th, RF Kensuke Kondoh had a one-out single and LF Masataka Yoshida a two-out single but Sandoval struck out 3B Munetaka Murakami, the defending CL MVP, to end the threat. Yoshinobu Yamamoto replaced Sasaki in the fifth and walked one in a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the 5th, 2B Tetsuto Yamada had a one-out single off Sandoval and SS Sosuke Genda walked. José Urquidy succeeded Sandoval and retired PH Shugo Maki. He walked CF Lars Nootbaar to load the bases but LF Randy Arozarena robbed Kondoh to strand the bases full. Yamamoto went 1-2-3 in the 6th. In the bottom of the inning, Japan again stranded the bases full as DH Shohei Ohtani singled, Yoshida hit into a force, Murakami struck out, 1B Kazuma Okamoto walked, Yamada walked and Genda flew out.

Yamamoto again faced the minimum in the top of the 7th. Japan, after having blown a few chances, finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Kondoh had a two-out singl eoff Urquidy and JoJo Romero relieved. He was 2-0 on the Classic but today was not his day as Ohtani walked and Yoshida clubbed a game-tying three-run dinger. Yamamoto flagged in the 8th as Arozarena and RF Alex Verdugo hit back-to-back doubles, Jarren Duran running for Verdugo. 1B Joey Meneses singled, chasing Yamamoto in favor of Atsuki Yuasa, then Meneses stole second. Tellez went down swinging but Paredes singled in Duran for a 5-3 lead; Meneses tried to score also but Yoshida's throw home nailed him at the plate.

Japan closed the gap in the bottom of the inning. Jesús Cruz hit Okamoto and Takumu Nakano pinch-ran. Yamada singled then Genda bunted both men into scoring position. Hotaka Yamakawa poinch-hit and hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Nakano. Gerardo Reyes replaced Cruz and walked Nootbaar but struck out Kondoh to keep Mexico in the lead entering the ninth. In the top of the 9th, Taisei Ota retired the red-hot Urías and Trejo. He hit CF Alek Thomas but recovered to whiff C Austin Barnes. Benji Gil turned to closer Giovanny Gallegos to close it out; Gallegos had pitched three shutout innings in registering two saves in the Classic but Japan's offense had also showed their mettle. Ohtani hit a double then Yoshida drew a walk, Ukyo Shuto pinch-running for him. That brought up Murakami, who was hitting a disappointing .190 in the Classic. The two-time CL MVP came through this time, though, smacking a two-run double off Gallegos to score Ohtani with the tying run and Shuto with the winner.

March 21[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
at loanDepot Park
United States	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	0
Japan	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	x	3	5	0
Pitchers of Record
Win: Shota Imanaga (1-0), Loss: Merrill Kelly (0-1), Save Shohei Ohtani (1)
Home Runs
USA: Trea Turner (5), Kyle Schwarber (2) Japan: Munetaka Murakami (1), Kazuma Okamoto (2)
Umpires
HP: Lance Barksdale (USA); 1B: John Tumpane (USA); 2B: Edward Pinales (Dominican Republic); 3B: Ramiro Alfaro (Colombia); LF: Jong-chul Park (South Korea); RF: Quinn Wolcott (USA)
Time of Game: 3:18 Attendance: 36,098

The only two-time champions were trying to prevent the US from joining that club while aiming for their third title and first in 14 years; meanwhile, the US was striving to join Japan in repeating as WBC champs. The game was appropriately an exciting one, going down to the final at-bat in which perhaps baseball's two biggest stars facing off.

Hideki Kuriyama turned to Shota Imanaga, making his first start of the tournament, while Mark DeRosa sent out Merrill Kelly. With one out in the first, CF Mike Trout doubled off Imanaga but 1B Paul Goldschmidt went down swinging and 3B Nolan Arenado grounded out. Kelly walked DH Shohei Ohtani with two out in the first but otherwise had no problems.

The defending champs took the lead in the second when SS Trea Turner homered with a 406' shot, tying Seung-yeop Lee's 17-year-old record for homers in a single WBC tournament with five. C J.T. Realmuto singled then Imanaga whiffed LF Cedric Mullins. 2B Tim Anderson singled as well but RF Mookie Betts flew out to end the threat. Japan answered quickly when 3B Munetaka Murakami smacked a 432' bomb off Kelly. 1B Kazuma Okamoto singled, 2B Tetsuto Yamada flew out and SS Sosuke Genda singled as the Japanese half of the inning was looking similar to the US half. C Yuhei Nakamura drew a walk to load the bases. Aaron Loup replaced Kelly and CF Lars Nootbaar's comebacker scored Okamoto. Japan had a lead they would not relinquish.

Shosei Togo took over for Imanaga in the third and struck out Trout then got Goldschmidt on the fly. He walked Arenado and DH Kyle Schwarber but got the imposing Turner swinging. In the bottom of the third, Kyle Freeland struck out Ohtani and walked LF Masataka Yoshida. This time, Murakami did not come through, hitting into a 4-6-3 double play. Togo went 1-2-3 in the 4th against Realmuto, Mullins and Anderson. In the bottom of the inning, Okamoto smacked one deep off Freeland for a crucial insurance run. Freeland bounced back to retire Yamada, Genda (K) and Nakamura.

Hiroto Takahashi entered to pitch the fifth. Betts initially was ruled out at first on a grounder but the call was overturned on review. Trout and Goldschmidt struck out, then Arenado singled but Schwarber flew out to end the threat. All Japan could manage in the 5th was a one-out walk to RF Kensuke Kondoh from Freeland. In the 6th, Hiromi Itoh became Japan's fourth hurler and went 1-2-3 against Turner, Realmuto and Mullins, striking out the last of those. Jason Adam replaced Freeland in the bottom of the inning and quickly struck out long-ball threats Murakami and Okamoto. Yamada walked and stole, then Genda and Nakamura walked to load them up but Nootbaar flew out.

Kuriyama turned to 2022 CL Rookie of the Year Taisei Ota as his fifth hurler. He walked PH Jeff McNeil and Betts singled as the US was threatening, bringing up Trout but the Angels great lined out then Goldschmidt ground into a double play. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Ohtani singled off David Bednar for Japan's last hit of the tournament. He was erased when Yoshida hit into a double play.

Japan's sixth pitcher, Yu Darvish, entered to pitch the 8th. He retired Arenado but Schwarber went deep on the 10th pitch of the at-bat to make it a one-run game. Turner singled before Darvish retired Realmuto and Mullins to end the inning. Devin Williams whiffed Murakami and Okamoto then Yamada again walked and stole, but was stranded once more as Genda grounded out. Japan turned to their 7th pitcher in the ninth inning but he was not new to the game as Ohtani had been playing DH. He walked McNeil (who had stayed in the game) and Bobby Witt Jr. pinch-ran. He wasn't on base long as Betts hit into a double play. That brought up Ohtani's Angels teammate Trout in a battle of perhaps baseball's two biggest names. Ohtani won this one, getting Trout swinging on a full count to lock up the game. He would take home WBC MVP for his stellar two-way work.

Japan joined the 2013 Dominicans as the only team to go unbeaten through a Classic, while the USA finished with no unearned runs allowed for the tournament.

Awards[edit]

Pool A MVP: Yu Chang, Taiwan 1B
Pool B MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Japan DH-P
Pool C MVP: Randy Arozarena, Mexico OF
Pool D MVP: Salvador Pérez, Venezuela C

Tournament MVP: Shohei Ohtani, Japan DH-P

All-Tournament Team[edit]

P Shohei Ohtani, Japan (2-0, Sv, 1.86)
P Patrick Sandoval, Mexico (1-0, 1.23)
P Miguel Romero, Cuba (2-0, 2.08)
C Salvador Pérez, Venezuela (.429/.467/.929)
1B Yu Chang, Taiwan (.438/.500/.938, 8 RBI in 4 G)
2B Javier Baez, Puerto Rico (.368/.368/.684)
3B Yoán Moncada, Cuba (.435/.519/.739)
SS Trea Turner, USA (.391/.440/1.043, 5 HR, 11 RBI)
OF Randy Arozarena, Mexico (.450/.607/.900, 8 R, 9 RBI)
OF Masataka Yoshida, Japan (.409/.531/.727, 13 RBI)
OF Mike Trout, USA (.296/.406/.556, 7 RBI)
DH Shohei Ohtani, Japan (.436/.606/.739, 4 2B, 10 BB, 9 R)

Statistics[edit]

Batting Leaders[edit]

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

At Bats

Mookie Betts, USA - 32
Joey Meneses, MEX - 27
Luis Robert, CUB - 27
Mike Trout, USA - 27
Nolan Arenado, USA - 26
Kensuke Kondoh, JPN - 26
Munetaka Murakami, JPN - 26
Lars Nootbaar, JPN - 26

Hits

Nolan Arenado, USA - 10
Mookie Betts, USA - 10
Joey Meneses, MEX - 10
Yoán Moncada, CUB - 10
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 10

Runs

Kensuke Kondoh, JPN - 9
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 9
Randy Arozarena, MEX - 8
Paul Goldschmidt, USA - 8
Mookie Betts, USA - 7
Lars Nootbaar, JPN - 7

Doubles

Randy Arozarena, MEX - 6
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 4
Yoán Moncada, CUB - 4
Kensuke Kondoh, JPN - 4
Salvador Pérez, VEN - 4

Triples

17 tied with 1

Home Runs

Trea Turner, USA - 5
Ha-seong Kim, KOR - 3
17 tied with 2

Runs Batted In

Masataka Yoshida, JPN - 13
Trea Turner, USA - 11
Randy Arozarena, MEX - 9
Yu Chang, TPE - 8
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 8

Total Bases

Trea Turner, USA - 24
Randy Arozarena, MEX - 18
Yoán Moncada, CUB - 17
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 17
Kensuke Kondoh, JPN - 16
Joey Meneses, MEX - 16
Masataka Yoshida, JPN - 16

Strikeouts

Munetaka Murakami, JPN - 13
Mike Trout, USA - 12
Alan Trejo, MEX - 12
Kensuke Kondoh, JPN - 9\
Julio Rodríguez, DOM - 9

Stolen Bases

Chavez Young, GBR - 5
Ronald Acuña Jr., VEN - 3
Tetsuto Yamada, JPN - 3
10 tied with 2

Batting Average

Tyler O'Neill, CAN - .615
Edouard Julien, CAN - .538
Eugenio Suárez, VEN - .500
Baek-ho Kang, KOR - .500
Benjamín Alegría, NIC - .500

On-Base Percentage

Tyler O'Neill, CAN - .722
Edouard Julien, CAN - .667
Byung-ho Park, KOR - .636
Randy Arozarena, MEX - .607
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - .606

Slugging Percentage

Edouard Julien, CAN - 1.154
Trea Turner, USA - 1.043
Juan Soto, DOM - 1.000
Eui-ji Yang, KOR - 1.000
Yu Chang, TPE - .938

On-base plus Slugging

Edouard Julien, CAN - 1821
Randy Arozarena, MEX - 1507
Juan Soto, DOM - 1500
Tyler O'Neill, CAN - 1491
Trea Turner, USA - 1483

Pitching Leaders[edit]

A minimum 0.8 innings pitched/game needed to qualify for rate stats

Wins

Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 2
JoJo Romero, MEX - 2
Miguel Romero, CUB - 2
José Ruiz, VEN - 2
Adam Wainwright, USA - 2

Losses

JC Ramírez, NIC - 2
45 tied with 1

Saves

Wendell Floranus, NLD - 2
Giovanny Gallegos, MEX - 2
Ryan Pressly, USA - 2
Chia-Hao Sung, TPE - 2
10 tied with 1

Games

Miguel Romero, CUB - 5
10 tied with 4

Games Started

14 tied with 2

Innings Pitched

Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 9 2/3
Roenis Elías, CUB - 9
Lance Lynn, USA - 9
Marcus Stroman, PRI - 9
Julio Urías, MEX - 9

Hits Allowed

Adam Wainwright, USA - 10
Miles Mikolas, USA - 9
Martín Pérez, VEN - 9
9 tied with 8

Runs Allowed

Daniel Bard, USA - 8
Mike Bolsenbroek, NLD - 7
Julio Urías, MEX - 7
Xiang Wang, CHN - 7
4 tied with 6

Earned Runs Allowed

Daniel Bard, USA - 8
Mike Bolsenbroek, NLD - 7
Julio Urías, MEX - 7
Xiang Wang, CHN - 7
Mitch Bratt, CAN - 6
Lukáš Ercoli, CZE - 6
R.J. Freure, CAN - 6
Michal Kovala, CZE - 6

Home Runs Allowed

Yu Darvish, JPN - 3
Roenis Elías, CUB - 3
Julio Urías, MEX - 3

Walks

Xiang Wang, CHN - 8
Andre Pallante, ITA - 6
Yariel Rodríguez, CUB - 6
Alexis Díaz, PRI - 5
Steven Kent, AUS - 5
Hailong Sun, CHN - 5
Jian Yi, CHN - 5

Strikeouts

Miguel Romero, CUB - 13
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, JPN - 12
Shohei Ohtani, JPN - 11
Roki Sasaki, JPN - 11
José De León, PRI - 10
Luis García - 10
Yariel Rodríguez, CUB - 10
Julio Urías, MEX - 10

Earned Run Average

Se-woong Park, KOR - 0.00 (6 IP)
José De León, PRI - 0.00 (5 2/3 IP)
Noah Skirrow, CAN - 0.00 (5 IP)
José Ruiz, VEN - 0.00 (4 1/3 IP)
Liván Moinelo, CUB - 0.00 (4 1/3 IP)

Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched

José De León, PRI - 0.00 (5 2/3 IP)
Se-woong Park, KOR - 0.17 (6 IP)
Jack O'Loughlin, AUS - 0.21 (4 2/3 IP)
Hyeong-jun So, KOR - 0.30 (3 1/3 IP)
Jeff Barto, CZE - 0.35 (5 1/3 IP)

Team Batting[edit]

Ordered by OPS

Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
South Korea	4	131	40	44	6	0	7	37	71	18	19	2	1	.336	.425	.542	.967
Japan	7	221	56	66	16	1	9	54	111	64	58	10	1	.299	.459	.502	.961
United States	7	237	51	72	13	5	12	49	131	32	48	2	0	.304	.394	.553	.947
Canada	4	130	27	39	6	1	6	26	65	24	39	4	0	.300	.417	.500	.917
Chinese Taipei	4	139	26	44	7	2	5	25	70	14	23	0	1	.317	.392	.504	.896
Venezuela	5	168	30	46	11	1	7	29	80	21	37	4	0	.274	.359	.476	.835
Australia	5	157	32	40	7	1	7	32	70	24	39	3	0	.255	.369	.446	.815
Dominican Republic	4	138	19	39	10	0	4	17	61	18	41	1	0	.283	.365	.442	.807
Cuba	6	206	31	64	13	1	2	31	85	22	31	2	1	.311	.382	.413	.795
Puerto Rico	5	164	34	46	9	2	4	31	71	16	38	2	0	.280	.351	.433	.784
Mexico	6	211	37	59	10	0	6	37	87	24	48	7	1	.280	.368	.412	.780
United Kingdom	4	118	18	27	9	1	3	16	47	21	41	7	2	.229	.352	.398	.750
Panama	4	135	19	37	7	0	2	18	60	18	25	6	1	.274	.372	.370	.742
Italy	5	172	23	47	9	2	1	22	63	17	34	3	1	.273	.347	.366	.713
Netherlands	4	125	13	28	1	0	4	12	41	15	40	3	0	.224	.331	.328	.659
Czech Republic	4	133	16	28	5	0	2	14	39	11	54	1	0	.211	.287	.293	.580
Colombia	4	130	12	25	5	0	2	11	36	10	33	0	2	.192	.248	.277	.525
Nicaragua	4	125	4	24	6	0	1	4	33	7	43	0	1	.192	.235	.264	.499
People's Republic of China	4	106	10	18	4	0	1	9	25	12	39	0	0	.170	.258	.236	.494
Israel	4	110	4	17	2	0	0	4	19	7	40	0	0	.155	.231	.173	.404

Team Pitching[edit]

Ordered by ERA

Team	W	L	ERA	G	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HBP	BB	SO	WHIP	Opp. AVG
Japan	7	0	2.29	7	0	2	63	44	18	16	8	5	11	80	0.87	.194
Dominican Republic	2	2	2.73	4	1	0	33	23	11	10	2	1	9	36	0.97	.197
Puerto Rico	3	2	3.35	5	1	2	43	31	17	16	5	1	14	47	1.05	.196
Venezuela	4	1	3.40	5	0	2	45	48	18	17	3	1	14	56	1.38	.273
Mexico	4	2	3.83	6	0	2	54	45	24	23	7	1	22	58	1.24	.228
United States	5	2	4.20	7	0	2	60	59	28	28	8	2	20	55	1.32	.255
Colombia	1	3	4.75	4	0	0	36	33	19	19	1	3	19	19	1.42	.244
Italy	2	3	4.91	5	0	0	44	46	26	24	7	6	21	37	1.52	.274
Nicaragua	0	4	4.91	4	0	0	33	37	20	18	2	5	15	24	1.58	.285
Australia	3	2	4.93	5	0	1	42	37	23	23	2	5	25	38	1.48	.242
Netherlands	2	2	5.03	4	0	2	34	33	19	19	1	3	19	19	1.53	.264
Cuba	3	3	5.09	6	0	1	53	50	32	30	6	7	24	53	1.40	.246
Panama	2	2	5.40	4	1	1	35	47	21	21	3	1	15	24	1.77	.333
Israel	1	3	6.82	4	0	1	31 2/3	40	26	24	3	2	16	36	1.77	.310
Chinese Taipei	2	2	7.20	4	0	2	35	44	31	28	3	3	21	29	1.86	.317
South Korea	2	2	7.55	4	0	1	31	33	26	26	4	5	11	41	1.42	.277
United Kingdom	1	3	7.84	4	0	1	31	40	31	27	4	1	31	22	2.29	.296
Czech Republic	1	3	7.94	4	0	0	34	36	30	30	4	1	23	22	1.74	.281
Canada	2	2	8.74	4	1	0	31	33	30	30	4	4	24	35	1.84	.284
People's Republic of China	0	4	15.11	4	0	0	28	51	50	47	6	4	42	21	3.32	.395

Final Standings[edit]

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