March 9, 2009

It's Do-or-Die For Canada

And it's "die".
Italy  - 111 100 200 - 6 10  0
Canada - 000 200 000 - 2  7  1
Justin Morneau (4-for-5) and Jason Bay (2-for-2, 2 BB) had six of Canada's seven hits. But that, along with Votto's double -- one of three straight "Baltimore dongs" that gave the home team its runs -- was the offense from the northern bats.

The final 17 Canadian hitters managed one hit. Poor starting pitching from Vince Perkins (2-3-3-4-2) -- who also made a fielding error on an easy comebacker on his second pitch of the game -- set the tone for the evening.

I liked the PA announcements being made in two languages; it reminded me of seeing games in Montreal as a kid. Hearing Valentino Pascucci's name six or so times from the Italian announcer was a delight!

***

WBC: Italy vs Canada, 6 PM

Both teams are 0-1, so in this double-elimination tournament, the loser of this game is out of the WBC. It's crunch time for Canada. Tonight's winner will meet Venezuela tomorrow night -- and the winner of that game will play the US on Wednesday, with a guaranteed spot in Round 2. 

Manager Ernie Whitt will send 6-5 right-hander Vince Perkins (an 18th-round draft pick of the Blue Jays in 2000) to the hill. He has no big league experience. Globe and Mail:
"We have all the confidence in the world in Vince, that he can give us at least three strong innings or go through the lineup twice," Whitt said. The 27-year-old right-hander played independent ball last season with the Camden Riversharks and Joliet Jackhammers and then signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs. Perkins said his arm is finally rounding into shape after Tommy John elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 2006 and he is excited about the upcoming challenge. "My arm has never felt better," he said. ...
Hmmmm. For a guy in whom he says he has "all the confidence in the world", Whitt is setting the bar a bit low, no? Three good innings? (Then again, the guy has not pitched higher than AA.)

Scott Diamond, a 22-year-old lefty who pitched for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Class A, Atlanta) last year, will likely follow. Then, as Whitt says, "it's whatever it takes to win a ball game." 

We need Jason Bay & Co. to lead us to victory; no more walks, Bay, we need a doung or two! (Steve Green, a 31-year-old AAA vet now with Pawtucket, is also on Canada's roster. Old friend Lenny DiNardo is in Italy's pen.) 

MLB lists Dan Serafini, a 35-year-old lefty with no current major league affiliation, as Italy's probable starter. (He was born in San Francisco.) He has pitched in the majors -- for six teams over seven seasons between 1996 and 2007. (His best BR comp? Vaughn Eshelman!)

***

Jon Lester starts against Pittsburgh this afternoon with this lineup behind him:
Nick Green, 2B Jed Lowrie, SS Josh Bard, DH Jeff Bailey, RF Brad Wilkerson, CF Chris Carter, LF Paul McAnulty, 1B George Kottaras, C Gil Velazquez, 3B
Mike Lowell is excited to play tomorrow.

61 comments:

Benjamin said...

Sox jump out to a quick 4-0 lead on a pair of Bard and Green dongs. Bootcheck in to pitch in the top of the 3rd. (Does that make Gorzelanny "Pantysniff"?)

GDGD link.

Benjamin said...

Brad Wilkerson grand slam. (Huge dong?) 8-0 Sox.

Benjamin said...

Perhaps "superlative dong".

Jere said...

Wow, 8 runs on three dongs.

Benjamin said...

Lester loads the bases in the bottom of the third, and a run scores on a Jed force-attempt error. Lester yanked after one out.

Benjamin said...

Pittsburgh gets four back. 8-4 after three.

Jed commits his second error of the inning.

Benjamin said...

Saito gives up a run and loads the bases on a HBP but escapes with no other damage. 8-5 Sox after four.

Benjamin said...

Carter 2-rbi single. 11-5 Sox after four and a half.

Benjamin said...

Okajima induced a DP. Still 11-5 after five.

Benjamin said...

Hansen in for Pittsburgh.

Benjamin said...

Hansen erases a Bailey single with a Dutchman DP. 11-5 after five and a half. MDC in.

Benjamin said...

MIN - 011 020 000 - 4 11 0
FKR - 010 100 001 - 3 07 0

Zenslinger said...

Thanks for the summary!

Benjamin said...

GDGD's running pretty far behind as usual, I think.

Benjamin said...

MDC gives up a walk, a clutch 2-out McClutchen triple, and a Tabata single. 11-7 Sox after six.

Benjamin said...

Brown with the dusty dong. 12-7 after six and a half.

Benjamin said...

Ram-Ram gives up a leadoff double but retires the rest, including two Ks. 12-7 after seven.

Benjamin said...

TOR - 001 013 100 - 6 9 0
MFY - 002 000 000 - 2 8 0

andy said...

That bracket is crazy complicated.

Benjamin said...

Jeff Sues on the all-attorney team. 12-7 after seven and a half.

Benjamin said...

Still seems pretty amazing that Korea beat Japan 1-0 this morning.

(First six innings for Korea's pitching: Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong, balk. Bong. Jong.)

Benjamin said...

Traber (embedded MFY): double, walk, double, single, triple. 12-11 Sox after eight.

allan said...

Korea:

Korea 9, Chinese Taipei 0
Japan 14, Korea 2
Korea 14, China 0
Korea 1, Japan 0

One bump in the road!

allan said...

Are you saying that Bong smoked Japan's hitters?

Benjamin said...

Gumball double. Lars single. Dusty double. 14-11 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Littleton in.

Jere said...

14-11 us.

Pirates trying to rally in bottom 9.

Benjamin said...

I'm saying Korea played duck-duck-goose with Japan, except they translate it as Bong-Bong-Jong, and Bong goes balk instead of quack.

Jere said...

14-12.

Jere said...

Pics I took yesterday at Eau de Toilette here, if anyone's interested.

Jere said...

Oh no, it's tied up. 14 all.

allan said...

Might have to leave you hanging with Littleton ... gotta run!

Benjamin said...

Traber: 1.0 4 4 4 1 0 0
Littleton: 1.0 2 3 3 2 1 0

Benjamin said...

15-14 Sox heading into the bottom of the 10th.

Benjamin said...

Pedroia: "And when Jeter mentioned how hard it was to come off the bench in midgame Sunday night, Pedroia offered his condolences by saying, 'Yeah, it’s only happened to me a couple of times, so I imagine it must be hard.'"

Benjamin said...

“'He doesn’t ever shut up, Pedroia,' Mets third baseman David Wright said with a smile. 'He’s one of my new favorites. I’ve had a chance to hang out with him a few times before, but he’s a beauty.'”

Benjamin said...

BOS - 305 030 102 1 - 15 15 2
PIT - 004 102 043 0 - 14 16 1

Zenslinger said...

Sox win 15-14 in the tenth.

What can we take that's encouraging from that game...uh, Bard hit well.

Rob said...

Italy-Canada game is not being televised here! Arrrrgh. MLB Network is showing Netherlands/Puerto Rico. Not a bad game, but still I thought all of them would be televised. ESPN's got stupid college basketball.

Joe Grav said...

Sox win 15-14 in 10!

Go Italy, I think...

sorry :(

Benjamin said...

The MLB Network is inexplicably blacked out for me right now (other channels work). Italy's leading Canada 2-0 and the Netherlands lead Puerto Rico (!) 1-0, both in the third.

Benjamin said...

6-2 Italy after six and a half. Maybe our hosts will get to see a heck of a late-innings comeback?....

Puerto Rico threatening with two on and none out in the bottom of the 8th.

Benjamin said...

Oh well.

Benjamin said...

Rasputin over at SoSH hopes you drank, Allan. Can you confirm or deny?

allan said...

Shitty starter for Canada.

And dead bats -- except for Morneau and Bay, who had 6 of the team's 7 hits. Bay also walked twice.

I was sort of hoping that Italy might continue its early game scoring:

111 1

but no.

(All of the pitchers were throwing 85-87 fastballs and assorted slop, so when Jesse Crain came in to relieve for Canada, and was bringing it at 95, it looked like about 135. He struck out all four of his batters. Whitt shoulda started him (and blew out his arm).)

So many fucking walks -- 15 total -- the game went 3:36.

allan said...

Rasputin! An old friend from the Riv, if I recall.

At $10.50 a pop, I had only one. I was going to have a second from a vendor around the 6th, but it was a can of either Bud or Coors. (If I got up and went out, I'd miss pitches.)

I'm home now and drinking wine (if that helps).

tim said...

Up to $10.50 now? Fucking Skydome. And yup, they only serve piss in the stands. Gotta get up to get the good stuff.

Here's to hoping my Boston Red Sox flask comes in good use this season there! lol

Jere said...

MLBN was also black for me for much of the day. I didn't notice it being back again until the 7th of the Nederlands game. Would've liked to see the upset, but hey, they lost to a country I have visited many times and love, so....wait a minute...Puerto Rico isn't a country! This whole thing's a sham! If they win, doesn't that mean the US wins? I guess this is perfect, actually. I can root for PR, and around my flag-waving friends, I can say, Hey, they're part of us! And around my commie pinko friends, I can say, Yeah, death to America!

In reality, I probably won't talk about any of this to anyone. Also, go Cuba, DR, Canada, Italy, and Russia and France if they ever have horses in this race.

Benjamin said...

Buchholz retires Pie in the top of the first. Just like Schilling would.

Benjamin said...

Baldelli double puts us up 2-0. Lowell Ks in his first at-bat.

Benjamin said...

GDGD issues a retraction. It's only 1-0.

Benjamin said...

Lowrie caught stealing in the second. Between that and the couple errors yesterday, it's Lowrie being Lugo.

Benjamin said...

Man, if Buchholz could pitch like this everyday....

I know it's against the Orioles and in ST, but it probably makes andy see starbursts.

Jere said...

Three no-hit innings for HH today.

Benjamin said...

Kris Johnson coughs up a few runs in the 7th. 3-1 Birds.

Benjamin said...

And Bard continues to overpower batters. It's nice to know we don't project to have to count on the Kris Johnsons of the world for our bullpen this year.

Benjamin said...

Felix Doubront coughs up a 2-run dong. 5-1 Ohs.

Benjamin said...

BAL - 000 000 320 - 5 8 0
BOS - 100 000 000 - 1 5 0

Jere said...

Holy crap, Benjamin, what a finish.

Dutch!

Jere said...

I was sure Benja-phil was updating under the veil all night! Guess not. Anyway, to clarify, hell of a finish, as Netherlands gives up 1 in the top of the 11th, then scores 2 in the bottom to beat Dominicana, 2-1.

Benjamin said...

Please tell me the Netherlands hasn't become that scrappy white team that sports media get infatuated with.

tim said...

hahaha

BANG! Hammer comes down and drives the coffin nail down just a little bit deeper...