Japan will be looking for a three-peat at the next World Baseball Classic in 2013. They defeated Korea 5-3 in 10 innings Monday night at Dodger Stadium thanks to a certain Seattle Mariner.
Ichiro Suzuki came through with the big hit to bail out winning pitcher Yu Darvish, who could not protect a 3-2 lead in the ninth as Korea's Lee Bum-ho came through with a two-out single to plate the tying run. Daisuke Matsuzaka won the MVP award for the second straight time as he went 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in the tournament. This game was much more entertaining than the semi-finals that proceeded this when Korea pounded Venezuela 10-2 while Japan knocked out the U.S. 9-4.
It'll be interesting to see what will happen at the next World Baseball Classic. Bud Selig is hoping the 2013 version will see even more countries taking part. I sure hope Canada has a better showing the next time around. The Canada-U.S. game was definitely a highlight but Canada-Italy was the total opposite. Regardless, it was the first time I was able to see baseball live in March and that was a good thing.
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Meantime, the Jays Ricky Romero gave up two runs in five innings in the Jays 3-0 loss to Cincinnati in Sarasota, Florida. On the surface, it's a decent start as he had a K/BB mark of 5-2 and recorded five groundouts. However, he uncorked two wild pitches and allowed 9 baserunners for a WHIP of 1.80. The Phillies also managed to steal a pair of bases against the lefty. Still, it was a better performance than Matt Clement's disaster against the Twins and it certainly made an impression on manager Cito Gaston. Lefty Brian Burres supplied two shutout innings in relief but Jeremy Accardo gave up a run on two hits in one inning of work. At the plate, Aaron Hill had two doubles in three at-bats and stole a base but was later thrown out at home. Scott Rolen had a triple and a walk while Vernon Wells and Raul Chavez had the other base knocks.
This afternoon, the Jays play the Phillies in Dunedin for a 1:05 p.m. EDT start. David Purcey will face Chan Ho Park. Toronto is 9-11 on the preseason.
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Aaron Hill remains the only Hill on the Toronto roster. There was speculation that the Jays were looking at signing Mississauga native and former Montreal Expo Shawn Hill. However, the 27 year-old righty has decided to try to catch on with the San Diego Padres by signing a minor league deal where he'll enter the mix for the number 5 spot in the Friars rotation.
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Curt Schilling gets a thread on his retirement but I forget to mention Corey Koskie's? ARGH! Anyways, a tip of the cap to the pride of Anola, Manitoba for trying to resurrect his career and getting a double for Team Canada during an exhibition game against the Jays this spring. Unfortunately, the concussion problems that sidelined him with Milwaukee in 2006 came back ultimately forced him to end his comeback attempt with the Chicago Cubs. Hopefully, Koskie can recover from this and lead a happy and healthy life. All the best to the popular Twin and 2005 Jay.
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