Fukuoka. Japan and Cuba have reached the second round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic with two games left in Pool B of the first round. Cuba captured its second win in round-robin play on Monday afternoon at the Yahoo! Dome in Fukuoka thanks to a 12-0 blowout over China.
Cuba and Japan now have two wins apiece at the top of the Pool A standings, while China and Brazil are winless with two losses each. The first two of each first-round pool advance to the second round.
Cuba’s offense overpowered Chinese pitching to lead the record world champion to a mercy-rule shortened victory after seven innings. Frederich Cepeda gave Victor Mesa’s squad a 1-0 lead in the first with a RBI triple. Jose Abreu extended the advantage to two runs with a RBI double in the third.
The floodgates opened completely in the fourth, when Alexei Bell connected on a two-run home run and Alfredo Despaigne drove in two with a double to left. Six runs in the fifth, including four on a grand slam by Jose Abreu put the game into the books.
Jose Fernandez, who had a two-run single during the six-run fifth, finished the game by going 3-for-4 with four runs scored. Jose Abreu finished with five RBI.
China couldn’t do anything in the game, being completely shut down by strong Cuban pitching. Danny Betancourt (W, 1-0) led the way, allowing just one hit and a walk in 4 2/3 dominating innings. He struck out eight for the win. Three relievers closed out the shutout.
Xin Li (L, 0-1) took the loss, surrendering eight hits, five runs (4 ER) and two walks in just 3 1/3 innings. Reliever Yu Liu (1.2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 3 BB) couldn’t stop Cuba either before Song Ran threw a scoreless sixth.
China will close out the 2013 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday with a game against the winless Brazil, battling for third place in Pool A. Cuba will clash with Japan on Wednesday in a game which will decide the first seed going into the second round.
Cuba and Japan will play in the second round in Tokyo, Japan. Second-round play will start on Friday, March 8. They will take on the two advancing teams from Pool B in a modified double elimination format.
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)
Photo: © World Baseball Classic, Inc.
