Cuba loses for the second time and its continuity in the World Classic Championship is in danger

Sputnik

La Jornada newspaper
Friday, March 10, 2023, p. A 12

Havana. , the ninth Cuban team to participate in the Fifth World Baseball Championship, based in Taiwan, was defeated for the second time in a row after falling in Additional roles Against the Italian national team, with a score of 6-3.

Italy defeated Cuba in the World Baseball ClassicJIT Deporte Cubano digital website stated on its Twitter account.

And with this setback, which is added to the defeat against the Dutch national team on the opening day, the chances of continuing the next stage of the tournament are greatly reduced.

The Cubans and Italians took the game Additional roles (10) After reaching a tie at two halves in the ninth episode, where the referee was from Manfred’s runnerwhich is to start the inning with a runner on second base, allowing the European team to get the score out after stepping on the ball four times house.

For his part, Cuba could only make one round, declaring victory to the Europeans.

So far, Antilles are in last place in Group A with two matches lost, where the Netherlands are also playing, unbeaten with two wins, followed by Italy (1-0), Panama (1-1) and Chinese Taipei (0 – 0). 1).

Despite the fact that, for the first time in its history, Cuba augmented its national team with active players in the major leagues of the United States and in other professional franchises, low hitting and production run productivity were major weaknesses to overcome. . in Earth.

Teams from Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, Czech Republic, United States, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Israel, and Nicaragua also participate in the World Baseball Classic.

Although it did not emerge victorious in these World Cup matches, the Cuban team managed to remain in the first 10 out of 20 teams participating in these high-level matches.

In 2006, during the first race, the island took second place, overtaking Japan. in the second, in 2009, it was ranked sixth; In 2013 it finished fifth, and in 2017 it fell to seventh place.

In Group B matches, Japan (1-0) advanced in the competition with an 8-1 win over China (0-1), while Australia advanced to second place with a hard-fought 8-7 win over South Korea (0). -1).

Mexico, which plays in Division C in the United States (Phoenix), makes its debut on Saturday against Colombia, faces the host on Sunday, on Tuesday against Great Britain, and concludes the group stage on Wednesday against Canada.

And the ninth Tri-Colour, in its second prep game, beat the Colorado Rockies 11-1 yesterday.