Team USA SS Jimmy Rollins(Philadelphia Phillies) and newcomer 2b Brian Roberts (Baltimore Orioles) ignited the club,leading the USA to a 9-3 victory Sunday over the Netherlands. The win keeps the red, white and blue alive in round 2 and eliminated the cinderella team of the World Baseball classic in the Netherlands, who ousted one of the tourney favorites , the Dominican Republic in the opening round. Now the United States faces another elimination game Tuesday(7 pm) vs the winner of Monday’s Venezuela-Puerto Rico contest.
The R and R boys, Rollins(Triple,homer,2 runs,4 rbi) & Roberts(3 hits, 2 runs, 1 rbi, 2 walks) were on base all night and sparked the USA attack. New Washington Nationals OF Adam Dunn again homered while Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun added 2 hits. Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt pitched a great game(4 innings, 5 hits, 5 Ks) , while 6 relievers combined to finish the game. Oswalt’s performance was huge, when you consider the team posting a 7+ era over the first 4 games, with fellow starters Jake Peavy(14.40) and Jeremy Guthrie(18.00) the chief culprits.
Interesting situation occured in 8th inning with the game in hand. Netherlands OF Bryan Engelhardt hit a tremendous home run to right, but his admiration of the shot drew the ire of the USA bench, most notably NY Mets 3b David Wright. Matt Lindstrom then fired his next pitch way to the right of the Netherlands batter, causing a bench clear. No punches thrown or anything else from this incident. Lindstrom could not finish the inning and has been shut down for 7-10 days with a strained rotator cuff. Braun also came out of the game with tightness in his right side(C Brian McCann took his spot in LF) but said Monday he is fine.
Team USA lineup vs the Netherlands-
1-SS Jimmy Rollins- Philadelphia Phillies
2-2b Brian Roberts-Baltimore Orioles
3-DH Derek Jeter-NY Yankees
4-1b Kevin Youkilis-Boston Red Sox
5-3b David Wright-NY Mets
(Mark DeRosa, Cleveland Indians, inserted)
6- RF Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals
(Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies,inserted)
7-LF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
(Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves, pinch hit for in the 8th)
8- C Chris Iannetta,Arizona Diamondbacks
9-CF Curtis Granderson, Detroit Tigers
Notes- DH-3b Chipper Jones ,Atlanta Braves, has had to withdraw from the tournament with a strained right oblique muscle, almost identical to the injury that claimed AL MVP 2b Dustin Pedroia,Boston Red Sox. Jones was clearly upset saying goodbye to his teammates and is viewed as a major team leader.
