The game is about to get underway. Karim Garcia is not in the lineup for Mexico due to a hamstring injury he sustained last night.
Update: After Vinny Castilla was hit by a pitch, Durazo drives Castilla in with what may be a triple (or a double and an error).
Update: It’s a double and an error by Stern. Gil follows up with another two-out double and Mexico leads 2-0. One more run by Mexico and the US moves ahead in the tie-breaker.
Update: Luis A. Garcia doubles also. Mexico now leads 3-0. So if the US wins against South Africa tomorrow, they are in. Now Canada needs to comeback and win this game to move on to the next round, if the US wins tomorrow.
Update: That’s four doubles in a row as Miguel Ojeda doubles to center to make the score 4-0. Mexico is putting Canada in a hole early.
Update: The top of the first ends with a strikeout. Canada needs to start chipping away at Mexico.
Update: After the fifth double of the game, Jorge Cantu blasts a ball over Jayson Bay’s head into the stands for a 6-0 Mexican lead. If this keeps up we’ll be looking at a mercy rule game.
Update: Canada is being no-hit through three innings. Valenzuela homers in the fourth to make the score 7-0 Mexico.
Update: Cantu picks up his third RBI of the game to extend Mexico’s lead to 8-0.
Update: Gil picks up his 2nd RBI of the game in the top of the 6th to make the score 9-0. One more run and one more inning and this game is over.
Update: Esteban Loaiza uses his full pitch allotment. He walks Stubby Clapp leading off the fifth to end his stint. He only allowed 3 hits and 2 walks through five innings. If the reliever can recover from the Clapp walk, Loaiza will get five scoreless innings.
Update: Oliver Perez comes on and so far has two strikeouts and three walks. Canada is on the board, now trailing 9-1 with the bases loaded and two out.
Update: Guiel strikes out looking to end the inning. Canada does not put a ball in play in the inning but score a run. If Mexico can score two in the top of the 7th they have a chance to end the game early.
Update: Mexico goes 1-2-3 in the 7th, so there will be an 8th inning tonight.
Update: It’s still 9-1 as they go to the bottom of the ninth. It looks bleak for the great white north.
Update: Canada goes 1-2-3 in the 9th. Mexico wins 9-1 and advances to the next round against Japan and South Korea. The fate of the Canadian team is in the hands of the South Africans. The US faces them tomorrow at 3 PM EST.
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Mexico just got the third run. The U.S. now controls its destiny, to use the cliche. No matter what more happens tonight, the U.S. can advance by beating South Africa tomorrow.
Man, I’m glad Mexico didn’t win 1-0.
Canada may be getting blown out of the tournament. Mexico is now up 4-0.
So what’s the deal exactly? I know now that if the US wins tomorrow, they’re in the next round. What about between Canada and Mexico?
It’s pretty simple now. Assuming the U.S. beats South Africa, the winner of this game advances, the loser is out of the tournament.
The first tiebreaker, according to WBC rules
is head to head competition. That means USA
will be out if Mexico wins.
No. If Mexico wins tonight and the U.S. wins tomorrow, there will be a three-way tie at 2-1. The U.S. now holds the first tiebreaker, runs allowed, over Canada. So the U.S. advances and Canada is out.
Now if the U.S. loses to South Africa tomorrow…well, we won’t think about that.
By the way, Buck Martinez was on the mlb.com telecast, and he sounded very relieved. In a way it’s too bad he’ll almost certainly escape his screw-up of using Leiter against Canada in a crucial situation.
Just to elaborate, as most of it has been correctly described by previous commenters…
First tiebreaker – head to head. Well, that works for two teams, but here with three, you’d give Canada the tie breaker over the US, US over Mexico and Mexico over Canada. To use that, you’d have to decide an arbitrary order of precedence, which they obviously can’t do, so on to the second tiebreaker.
The second tiebreaker is runs allowed against the other teams you are tied with. That’s why it does not matter how many runs South Africa scores, as long as the US wins. Once Canada gave up more runs than the US against both US and Mexico, they lost that tiebreaker with the US. The US could win 15-14 against South Africa, but since they are against the lone not-potentially-tied team, the runs don’t matter.
I hope that is (a) clear and (b) accurate, since it’s certainly confusing!
Yep, I should have said that the 1-1 tie among Canada, Mexico and the U.S. (assuming Mexico wins tonight and the U.S. wins tomorrow) means the runs-allowed tiebreaker among the three teams would be used.
The U.S. allowed 8 runs in their games against Canada and Mexico. Canada has now allowed 14 runs against the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico has allowed only 2 runs so far against Canada and the U.S.
Which means it looks like Mexico will be the first seed advancing, and the U.S. the second.
Thanks Casey and Jeff…that last explanation was actually very clear. Now the US just has to beat South Africa. Anything can happen in 9 innings!
3ks and 3 walks sounds like the oliver perez we know and love
last year was an anomole for oliver. he is still only 23.
Assuming the USA wins against SA, the tiebreaker is settled and Canada is out. The runs allowed settled the tiebreaker, but no necessarily who is first and second seed. Now, how are the seeds determined. The first rule says that the winner of head-to head will advance higher in the pool, which means USA is the top seed and Mexico is the runner up, since USA beat Mexico. Or maybe its purely based on runs allowed, which meand Mexico is the top seed and USA second. I wonder how they decide.
G
“If the reliever can recover from the Clapp…”
I may titter. Stubby Clapp.