Designated hitter Alex Hall got the fourth game of four RBIs for an Australian player over the course of the World Baseball Classics and the ninth aussie defeated the Czech Republic 9-3 in the final of Group B in Tokyo, where they secured a historic ticket to the second round.
Against the Czech rookies, the Australians achieved their third victory of the match —they had already defeated South Korea and China— and settled in second place in a bracket in which Japan has been the clear dominator, with four smiles on equal number of exits to the diamond.
Hall lit the fuse early for Australia and put them to victory in the same opener with a 407-foot homer to right field at Tokyo Dome. It would be just a warning of the great afternoon that the designated hitter of the United States would have ahead of him. aussies, who in total drove in 4 runs, scored 2 and also hit a triple.
Hall joined James Beresford (vs. China in 2017), Luke Hughes (vs. China in 2017) and Rixon Wingrove (vs. China in this edition) as the only Australians to have driven in 4 runs in a World Classic game. .
But Australia’s attack was not limited to Hall. Right fielder Tim Kennelly and waiter Robbie Glendinning hit two rockets and scored an RBI, while shortstop Logan Wade drove in 2.
From the mound, five Australian bowlers combined to retire 11 Czech Republic batsmen via the strikes, with highlights for Jack O’Loughlin and Mitch Neunborn, who completed 5 combined innings at a rate of 2 hits, one clean and 8 strikeouts in their account.
However, the winner of the duel was reliever Daniel McGrath. The lefty worked 2.2 innings, in which he accepted 3 rockets and 2 runs from the Czech artillery, which was revealed in the eighth chapter. But by then the game was over and closer Jon Kennedy pulled the bolt to seal Australia’s place in the second round.
The Australians, who had not won more than one game in any of the previous editions of the Classic (they lost all three games in 2006 and 2013 and finished 1-2 in 2009 and 2017), now became the revelation of group B after eliminate South Korea, favorite of many specialists to accompany Japan directly to the second round.
It’s a historic result for Australia, who have never managed to crack the top eight teams in the tournament before. After completing a feat for the record books, the aussies They continue to dream and will seek to overcome Cuba (first in group A) in the do-or-die duel of the quarterfinals.
The match will be held on March 15 (6:00 am Cuban time) at the Tokyo Dome, where the Cubans eliminated the Australians in the last edition of the tournament, with that famous home run with bases loaded by Alfredo Despaigne. The other antecedent of crossing between the two nations in the Classic dates back to 2009, when the Caribbean also won with a pinch-hit homer from Yosvany Peraza.
For the duel on Wednesday the 15th, Cuba will not be able to count on the slugger Yoenis Céspedes, from Granma, needed to travel to the United States, his country of residence, to “solve urgent personal problems,” the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) reported in a statement.
The island authorities assured that they were able to verify that Céspedes’ trip was not part of his plans when he accepted the call for the Clásico.
The player’s will is to rejoin the Cuban squad in Miami, in case they manage to defeat Australia and reach the semifinals. However, the FCB said that the team’s technical group will assess the reinsertion of Céspedes in accordance with the regulations established for the registrations and withdrawals of the tournament.
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