As the baseballs rocketed around various patches of Dolphin Stadium on Saturday night, the atmosphere escalated from eager to exciting to enthusiastic. A serious baseball party blossomed here, but Puerto Rico, not the US, provided almost all of the entertainment.
Puerto Rico acted so comfortably that this World Baseball Classic (WBC) game might as well have been played in San Juan. The Puerto Ricans scorched Jake Peavy for six runs in the first two innings and gave their noisy fans a chance to wave flags, blow horns and whistle while cruising to an 11-1 victory.
How embarrassing was the loss for the Americans? When Mike Aviles blooped a two-run single in the seventh inning to boost Puerto Rico’s bulge to 10 runs, the umpires started walking off the field.
The game ended because of the 10-run mercy rule, meaning the Americans felt like high school softball players for one forgettable night.
“We got hit by truck,” David Wright said after the game.
After being battered by Puerto Rico, the Americans were set to play their most important game of the tournament against the surprising Netherlands yesterday. The Dutch lost to Venezuela, 3-1, in the first game. Now the Netherlands could eliminate the mighty Americans by winning. Puerto Rico and Venezuela will face each other today.
Carlos Beltran homered and drove in two runs and Carlos Delgado also had two runs batted in. By the time 13 Puerto Ricans had batted, the score was 6-0. It was early, but it was already late for the Americans.
The Netherlands was lurking a run behind Venezuela and threatening in the eighth inning, making another baseball power antsy. The Dutch boys had two men on with two outs and were trying to duplicate their two stunning wins over the Dominican Republic.
The Venezuelans had an answer. They had Francisco Rodriguez. If the Dutch players needed evidence that Venezuela took them seriously, it came when Manager Luis Sojo asked Rodriguez to secure four outs. Rodriguez did not do that once last season, never mind in the middle of March.
The Dutch were only trailing 2-1 when Rodriguez, the Mets’ closer, retired Sharnol Adriana on a groundout in the eighth. Rodriguez pumped his fist, as he often does after pivotal outs. No major leaguer has had more saves than Rodriguez’s 62 for the Los Angeles Angels last year.
And now K-Rod has one against the Dutch, too.
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