Fukuoka. China is going to finish in third place in the first-round Pool A. They stunned Brazil with a late rally to prevail 5-2 in a duel of winless teams at the Yahoo! Dome in Fukuoka on Tuesday afternoon. Both teams will miss the second round, as Japan and Cuba advance from Pool A.
The game on Tuesday was a bright example that baseball can be decided at any time throughout the nine innings. Brazil looked like the sure winner, taking a quick lead and being up 2-0 after seven innings thanks to a RBI single by JC Muniz in the second and a RBI groundout of Diego Franca in the seventh.
It was not enough. Brazil’s pitchers lost the strike zone and China took advantage patiently. Weiqiang Meng led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. After Yanyong Yang struck out, Xiao Cui, Xu An and Lei Li worked three consecutive walks in a span of 13 pitches (one strike, 12 balls).
With the score at 1-2 and Brazil’s pitchers just trying to throw the ball over the plate, China’s WBC hero from 2009, Ray Chang, stepped into the batter’s box. He managed to connect off reliever Thyago Vieria with a soft fly ball single to left, scoring two runs to give China a 3-2 lead.
After the following force out at second for the second out, China again loaded the bases and used two more bases loaded walks to plate two more runs. Brazil couldn’t counter in the top of the ninth, as JC Munic grounded into a double play after Reinaldo Sato’s leadoff single and Alan Fanhoni struck out to end the game.
With the match on Tuesday the 2013 World Baseball Classic is over for China and Brazil. China will finish in 3rd place in Pool A, Brazil in 4th. The South Americans, which were managed by Barry Larkin, had won the WBC Qualifier in November in Panama City to reach the main event.
Results Pool A:
Saturday, March 2:
Brazil 3 – Japan 5
Sunday, March 3:
Brazil 2 – Cuba 5
Japan 5 – China 2
Monday, March 4:
Cuba 12 – China 0 (7 innings)
Tuesday, March 5:
China 5 – Brazil 2
Photo: © World Baseball Classic, Inc.
