The quality of pitching is the key note at the end of the second day of the opening round of the IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. Starters, in particular, impressed all day.
After Chinese Taipei beat Colombia on the opening day, Day Two saw the remaining 10 teams in action with Mexico winning the most exciting game of the day, resisting Australia's comeback thanks to great defence and scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth.
Day 2 Results
Korea-Netherlands 4-0
Korea won an excellent pitching duel under constant drizzle at Tianmu Stadium. The running game and critical defensive plays made the difference.
The first three innings saw minimal action. Korea's starter Saangyung Lee was perfect, while Dylan Farley of the Netherlands allowed just one walk.
Korea took the lead in the top of the fourth. Right fielder Sejin Cho reached on an infield single, the first hit of the night. Farley walked him to second. Korea advanced the runners on a bunt, and Cho scored despite a brilliant diving stop by second baseman Tyrik Kemp on a hard grounder by Janghan Oh.
Korea added a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh against reliever Jiorgeny Casimiri, making the most of a walk and a hit batter. They made it 4-0 on a wild pitch by Klevert Martina, the fourth Dutch pitcher.
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Mexico-Australia 3-2
Angel Camacho robbed Solomon Maguire of a walk-off hit with a spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the seventh, then scored the winning run as the lead tie-break runner on a single by Javier Sanchez and gave Mexico an extra-inning win over Australia.
After a quick three innings, Mexico took the lead in the top of the fourth when San Diego Padres top prospect Brandon Valenzuela hit a two-RBI double.
Right fielder Christopher Burke homered off Mexico's starter Ferando Sanchez to put Australia on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
Sanchez left after allowing a base hit to Mitchell Edwards. Trevis Bazzana got to reliever Jordan Suarez with an RBI-double that tied the game.
Australia was just inches from winning in the bottom of the seventh.
Angel Camacho scored Mexico's winning run in the top of the eighth.
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Japan-Germany 6-0
Japan scored four times in the second inning and didn't need to look back. Germany had only two hits against five Japanese pitchers.
Japan took the lead in the top of the second as Takumi Fuji homered off Nicolas Goebert.
Japan added two doubles and a triple against Goeberts and Nic Kirchhoff and extended the lead to 4-0 before the end of the inning.
They didn't need to look back. After starter Ren Tomida, who went three innings, Japan sent four relievers to the mound and limited Germany to a couple of hits.
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Puerto Rico-Cuba 5-0
Four Puerto Rican pitchers limited Cuba to a couple of hits. Designated hitter Ricardo De La Torre had two hits, including a two-RBI double in the top of the seventh.
The first three innings developed as a pitching duel between Cuba's left-hander Naykel Cruz and Puerto Rico's right-hander Alexander Castro. They allowed just one hit each.
Puerto Rico made the most of a defensive error with three consecutive hits that sent Cruz to the showers and added a run on a sacrifice fly against reliever Marlon Vega.
Designated hitter Ricardo De La Torre hit a two-RBI double in the top of the seventh against Vega to extend Puerto Rico's lead.
Cuba loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Sebastian Rodriguez closed the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
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Venezuela- South Africa 9-0
Right-hander Wikelman Ramirez took a no-hitter into the seventh. South Africa's shortstop Joshua Wentzel broke it with a one-out single up the middle. By this time, his line up had built a comfortable lead.
Starters Dylan O'Brien and Wikelman Ramirez worked three quick innings.
Venezuela took the lead in the bottom of th fourth thanks to three hits, including a double by Jesus Chirinos.
Chirinos added another double in a three-run fifth Venezuelan at-bat that broke the score open.
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