Day two of the Olympic baseball tournament saw the United States and Japan put their first wins on the board, while Cuba made it two wins out of two and the rain was the victor in the other game between Korea and China. However, the day was blotted somewhat by a controversial decision to bring an early end to the game between the U.S. and the Netherlands.Â
The United States won 7-0 and there is no argument about the fairness of the final outcome. The Dutch were totally dominated by the American’s starting pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, who flirted with a no-hitter before ending up with a stunning pitching line of seven innings pitched, one hit allowed, with one walk given up and eleven strikeouts. Strasburg came into the tournament commanding a lot of attention as the only college player on the U.S. roster. The right-hander out of San Diego State showed exactly why he has been widely tipped to be a top pick in next year’s amateur draft and it is not being disrespectful to say that the Dutch were simply overmatched in the contest.
Even so, the Netherlands came out of the game feeling slightly hard done by. After being shutout by Chinese Taipei in their opening game, the Dutch were understandably keen to stop their score-less slide, not least because run differential is one of the factors taken into account when separating sides with the same win-loss record in the final standings. What the official box score doesn’t show is that they loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs, only for the heavens to open again, sending the players off the field. This was the second time the game was delayed for a substantial period of time and the organizers decided simply to call the game after eight innings. The Netherlands’ great chance to break their scoring duck was lost and the three batters who reached base saw their efforts being erased from the record books. Their manager, Robert Eenhoorn, was quoted on MLB.com summing up his post-game thoughts: “Overall, the USA deserved to win. It’s just a strange end to the game. That’s the only thing I don’t feel great about”.
In fairness to the organizers, they were placed in a difficult position by the heavy rain during the morning in Beijing. The game between China and Korea ended up being postponed with the score tied at 0-0 during the sixth inning. It looks likely that they will simply pick up where they left off on Sunday 17th (originally a ‘rest day’). After being hammered by Canada in their opening game, China were putting up an excellent fight against the team who had impressively beaten the U.S. the day before. The home nation will certainly be keen for their promising first five innings to carry over.
Both of the evening games were played to a completion. Cuba improved their record to 2-0, but were given a real scare by Canada. Having taken a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, the Cubans found themselves down 5-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Cleveland Indians’ twenty year old Single-A batter Nick Weglarz smashed two home runs for the Canadians, with Michael Saunders (from the Seattle Mariners’ Triple-A team) also going deep. The Cubans fought back with a four-run sixth inning and although Canada brought themselves to within one run in the eighth, they were unable to complete their fight back and ultimately lost 7-6. Japan responded to their opening day defeat to Cuba by beating Chinese Taipei 6-1. The final score disguises the fact that it was a tight game most of the way through, with four runs in the top of the ninth inning inflating the winning margin right near the end.
Day Three preview
There’s no doubt that the game of the day will be the mouth-watering clash between the United States and Cuba. That one is scheduled for 4.30 am BST and promises to be a fiercely contested affair. The other early game sees Chinese Taipei taking on the home nation. In the two evening games in Beijing (11.00 and 12.00 BST), Canada will face Korea while the Netherlands are dealt another difficult opponent in the form of Japan.
