Baseball notes: U.S. rallies past Canada, into WBC second round

From wire reports

Adam Jones doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning, Eric Hosmer hit a three-run double in the ninth and the United States beat Canada 9-4 on Sunday to advance to the second round of the World Baseball Classic.

Down to their last several outs, the U.S. trailed 3-2 after seven innings before breaking loose. Team USA and Italy advanced in Group D while Canada and Mexico were eliminated.

Jones and Hosmer both had a rough week at the plate but came through with the United States on the brink of what would have been a humbling loss. Jones' hit was his second in nine at-bats. Hosmer was 3 for 13.

Gold Glove second baseman Brandon Phillips contributed, too, making a diving stop to prevent Canada from tying it in the eighth.

Heath Bell pitched a scoreless seventh to get the victory for manager Joe Torre's team. Jimmy Henderson took the loss.

Canada's Michael Saunders, of the Seattle Mariners, hit a two-run homer off Texas Rangers starter Derek Holland and was chosen the Group D MVP, going 8 for 11 in the tournament.

The United States finished group play tied with Italy at 2-1 but gets the No. 1 seed because of its 6-2 win over Italy. The U.S. meets Puerto Rico, a 4-2 loser Sunday to the Dominican Republic, on Tuesday in Miami.

Holland started Game 3 for the U.S. and went five innings, allowing four hits, two runs, with four strikeouts and one walk. R.A. Dickey was the losing pitcher for the U.S. in Game 1, and Ryan Vogelsong pitched the win over Italy.

David Wright, whose grand slam lifted the U.S. past Italy Saturday night, doubled and walked three times. Ben Zobrist had three hits, none of which left the infield.

Canada, coming off a 10-3 win over Mexico that featured a bruising ninth-inning brawl, finished 1-2. The Canadians have not made it out of the first round for any of the three WBCs.

But they looked in great shape much of the afternoon against the United States, which was looking to avoid its worst showing ever in the tournament. The Americans made it to the second round in 2006 and the semifinals in 2009.

For the third straight game, the U.S. fell behind early.

Justin Morneau, who was 8 for 12 in the tournament for Canada, doubled to start the second, then Saunders hit Holland's 1-0 pitch into the bullpen down the right field line to make it 2-0.

The U.S. tied it with two runs in the fourth, one unearned.

Joe Mauer led off with a single and Wright walked. Zobrist put down a near-perfect bunt for a base hit, with third baseman Taylor Green throwing wildly to first and allowing a run to score. Jones' sacrifice fly to center brought in the tying run.

Green, playing third for Canada because Brett Lawrie was hurt just before the WBC began, also had an error in the second when he dropped Zobrist's high pop fly ball in the bright sunlight.

Canada regained the lead at 3-2 in the sixth. Joey Votto drew a leadoff walk from reliever Glen Perkins, took second on Morneau's single. Saunders struck out looking and Chris Robinson flied out, advancing the runner to third. Adam Loewen's first-pitch single brought Votto home.

Mauer opened the eighth with a single, then Wright walked. Torre made an aggressive move when, with Willie Bloomquist pinch running for Mauer, he sent both runners moving on Henderson's 1-2 pitch to Jones. Jones connected, bringing both runners home. Shane Victorino singled Jones home to make it 5-3.

Canada made it a one-run game in its half of the eighth but would have tied it had it not been for a spectacular defensive play by Phillips. His diving stop of Loewen's bases-loaded grounder allowed one run to score, but kept the U.S. in the lead.

The U.S. broke it open off Scott Matheson and closer John Axford in the ninth.

Phillips started it with a double. Jonathan Lucroy had an RBI single, then Wright walked once again. Axford came on and allowed the infield single to Zobrist. Jones struck out but Hosmer, a late addition to the team when Matt Teixeira was injured, cleared the bases with a shot to deep center.

Torre benched Miami's dynamic young slugger Giancarlo Stanton in favor of Victorino in left field. He also moved Ryan Braun to designated hitter and put Zobrist in right. Mauer, the DH in the first two games, was the catcher. Stanton was hitless in the first two games, although he did have a pair of deep fly balls in the opening loss to Mexico.

•  No suspensions: The WBC decided no players will be suspended in the aftermath of Saturday’s nasty brawl between Mexico and Canada. The organizers said Sunday that while the mayhem “runs counter to the spirit of sportsmanship and respectful competition,” suspensions would not be appropriate because at the time of the decision one team and possibly both will not advance to the second round: “WBCI has determined that disciplinary measures would not have a meaningful corrective impact.”

•  Dominican Republic 4, Puerto Rico 2: Robinson Cano went 3 for 5 with a game-tying, solo home run in the fifth inning as the Dominican Republic rallied to win in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Alejandro De Aza doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning for the Dominicans, who will face Italy in the second round. Puerto Rico's loss earned a matchup with the United States.

Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz was 1 for 5 and drove in a Dominican insurance run with a groundball out in the seventh after Edwin Encarnacion was hit by a pitch and Miguel Tejada doubled.

•  Japan 16, Netherlands 4: Two-time defending champion Japan hit a record-tying six home runs, scoring in all seven innings Sunday to rout the Netherlands in Tokyo to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.

Japan built a 12-0 lead by the sixth inning, when the Netherlands closed on Wladimir Balentine’s three-run double and Andruw Jones’ RBI single.

Hayato Sakamoto’s grand slam in the seventh that made it 16-4 and tied the team record of six homers, set by Cuba against South Africa in 2009. The game was called under the 10-run mercy rule when the Netherlands failed to close the gap in the bottom half.

Japan outhit the Dutch 17-6. The Netherlands plays Cuba on Tuesday, with the winners joining Japan in the semifinals at San Francisco on March 17 or 18.

Venezuela 11, Spain 6: Miguel Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval hit consecutive home runs in beating Spain, a win that came too late to matter at the World Baseball Classic.

Venezuela, which finished 1-2 in Group C, was eliminated from the competition Saturday night with a 6-3 loss to Puerto Rico. So the win over Spain (0-3) was of little consolation to the South American team that was loaded with major league All-Stars and had been considered a top contender.

Briefly

•  Tigers: Rick Porcello pitched five shutout innings and Detroit beat Washington. Porcello gave up three hits and struck out four. He has fanned 14 without a walk this spring, and has a 2.08 ERA. Porcello is competing with Drew Smyly for the final opening in the Tigers’ rotation. Smyly has yet to allow a run in nine innings.

•  Phillies: Cole Hamels gave up one hit in five innings and Laynce Nix homered for Philadelphia in a 7-1 victory over Houston. Hamels retired 14 straight batters after giving up a leadoff double to Tyler Greene in the first inning.

•  Yankees: David Phelps kept up his strong spring training, allowing three hits over five innings in New York’s 3-0 win over Toronto. Phelps, bidding for a rotation spot, has given up just one run in 14 innings over four starts. Juan Rivera had three hits, including a three-run double off Brett Cecil in the fifth. ... Yankees ace CC Sabathia, the expected opening day starter, threw 52 pitches during a simulated game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The left-hander, who had offseason left elbow bone spur surgery, is scheduled to make first exhibition start Friday against Miami.

•  Indians: Manager Terry Francona has picked Zach McAllister to be the club’s No. 4 starter. McAllister came to camp as the favorite, and the right-hander has not disappointed during workouts and exhibition outings. The 25-year-old, 6-8 in 22 starts for the Indians last season, will be in Cleveland’s rotation behind Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Brett Myers. The Indians are still looking for a No. 5 starter, with Scott Kazmir, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Carlos Carrasco all in the mix.

•  Marlins: Chone Figgins was 4 for 4, Wade LeBlanc pitched four scoreless innings and Miami defeated Atlanta. LeBlanc gave up five hits and walked none as he ran his spring training scoreless streak to nine innings. The left-hander, who threw 28 of his 42 pitches for strikes, is competing with John Maine and Kevin Slowey for the final spot in the Miami rotation.

•  Braves: Starter Tim Hudson labored through five innings, throwing 97 pitches and allowing six runs, nine hits, two hit batters and one walk. B.J. Upton was 3 for 3 for the Braves and is hitting .382 (13 for 34).

•  Athletics: Lefty Brett Anderson, scheduled to start on Opening Day, strained a muscle in his upper right back and left Sunday's outing against Arizona after facing just two batters. Anderson appeared to suffer the strain after sprinting to cover third base on a play.

•  Cardinals: Manager Mike Matheny planned to leave the team after Sunday's spring training game and return to St. Louis for surgery to repair a ruptured disk in his lower back. Matheny expects to be back at spring training for Thursday's game against Atlanta in Jupiter. “There is still a fragment that is stuck in a spot where it's getting to the nerve and affecting what is going on back there,” Matheny said prior to Sunday's game against the New York Mets.

•  Red Sox: The team will shut down designated hitter David Ortiz for several days with sore left heel. Manager John Farrell received the MRI results during Sunday’s game. He expects Ortiz to be out for five to seven days because of inflammation.The eight-time All-Star is still making his way back from a strained right Achilles tendon that limited him to 90 games last season.

Looking for comments?