It's a big day in Canada: the Canadian nine took a good American squad to school in our own national pastime. Dontrelle Willis was rocked for 5 runs in 2.2 innings, and Al Leiter and Gary Majewski couldn't stop the bleeding. By the time Jason Varitek hit a grand slam in the fifth inning, the Canucks already had a big eight on the board. Varitek's bomb capped a six-run fifth, and the Americans couldn't score again.
The ace who held down the U.S. lineup for the first 3.2 innings was Adam Loewen, a 21-year-old from B.C. who played Class A ball for the Orioles last year. All of a sudden yesterday's close games: Canada 11, South Africa 8 and U.S.A. 2, Mexico 0, loom large in the Pool B standings. If Canada can beat Mexico, it will advance in the top spot. If the Mexicans win, and all three teams beat South Africa, there will be a three-way tie of 2-1 records. Canada would most likely lose a tie, however, since the tie-breaking criterion in this case is runs allowed.
All of this confirms my strong sense that the U.S. will not be able to stop the D.R. from running away with the tourney.
1 comment:
sigh ... the D-Train has finally been brought down by of all people, a bunch of double AA ballers. hope he gets back on track. the marlins need to win at least his share of 30 games.
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