San Juan. The Dominican Republic has a much better World Baseball Classic as four years ago. The team of manager Tony Pena defeated Spain 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It has been their second win in as many games in Pool C of the first round at the 2013 WBC. It was the second loss for Spain.
RBI singles by Nelson Cruz and Ricardo Nanita gave the Dominicans a 2-0 lead through two innings. Robinson Cano’s RBI double in the third and RBIs by Cruz and Carlos Santana extended the advantage to five runs in the third.
Similar to Spain’s WBC debut against Puerto Rico their pitching staff settled in after a rocky start and controlled the strong bats of the favorite. However the Europeans couldn’t score either until Engel Beltre bunted Salomon Manriquez home in the seventh.
After Carlos Santana made it 6-1 with a solo home run in the eighth, Spain started a rally in the bottom half of the ninth. Yasser Gomez with a RBI single and Barbaro Canizares with a bases loaded walk cut the deficit to 3-6.
But with the bases loaded and two outs, Dominican closer Fernando Rodney recovered to strike out Rafael Alvarez on six pitches to end the game, sealing the 6-3 win.
Robinson Cano (D.R.) and Yunesky Sanchez (ESP) led their respective teams with three hits apiece. Nelson Cruz and Carlos Santana combined for four RBI.
Samuel Deduno (W, 1-0) got the win, allowing four hits in four scoreless innings as the Dominican starting pitcher. He struck out five. Yoanner Negrin (L, 0-1) issued three hits, five runs and four base on balls in 2 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Both teams will conclude the first round at the 2013 World Baseball Classic on Sunday. Spain will face Venezuela, while the Dominican Republic squares off with host Puerto Rico.
