Miguel Cabrera belts a solo shot to right-center field to tie the game at 2 in the top of the 9th

Miggy, Odor spark Venezuela over Italy to advance
Venezuela, USA to face off 9 p.m. ET Wednesday in San Diego

Venezuela is moving on to the second round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Italy is going home.

Venezuela rallied to beat Italy, 4-3, in the Pool D tiebreaker on Monday at Estadio Charros de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico, to earn a trip to San Diego and a meeting with Team USA on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) tied the game at 2-2 with a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth and Rougned Odor (Rangers) singled to score Victor Martinez (Tigers) with the go-ahead run as Venezuela stormed back to reach the second round for the third time in tournament history.

Odor later scored on a suicide squeeze with Alcides Escobar (Royals) to give Venezuela an insurance run, which proved necessary as Italy's Alex Liddi homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth.

Italy's John Andreoli homered to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning, briefly giving the Italians hope of making the second round for the second straight Classic. Andreoli stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but Venezuela closer Francisco Rodriguez (Tigers) got him to ground out to third.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Miggy keeps mashing: Cabrera's game-tying homer was his first of WBC '17 and his sixth overall in Classic play, tying him for second all-time with Nate Freiman (Israel) and Frederich Cepeda (Cuba).

Andreoli stays hot: Italy scored two batters into the bottom of the first, as Andreoli led off with a double and Daniel Descalso (D-backs) followed with a single to bring him home. Andreoli, an outfielder in the Cubs' system, finished pool play with a .316 average, three homers and seven RBIs.
John Andreoli crushes a solo shot to right-center field to give Team Italy a 2-1 lead in the 7th inning

Taking advantage: Venezuela tied the game, 1-1, in the sixth when Ender Inciarte (Braves) scored Odubel Herrera (Phillies) with a single. The Venezuelans benefited from some shaky defense by the Italians, who committed an error and followed the miscue with a poor throw across the diamond that prevented a double play.
Ender Inciarte collects Team Venezuela's first hit of the game, an RBI single to right to score Odubel Herrera and tie the game in the 5th

Morris mows 'em down: Italy starter A.J. Morris pitched five hitless innings, striking out five against one walk. Morris was able to face the minimum over his five innings thanks to a double play in the fourth that saw Rob Segedin (Dodgers) double off Inciarte at first base on a fly-ball out to right field.
Team Italy starter A.J. Morris tosses five innings, allows no hits and strikes out five against Team Venezuela in a no-decision

WHAT'S NEXT

Venezuela: Up next for Venezuela is a matchup with Team USA in the second round. The game will be played on Wednesday at Petco Park in San Diego with first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

Italy: With Monday's defeat, Italy has been eliminated from WBC '17.

BOX SCORES

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/venezuela-vs-i ... 486924#Box

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BRACKETS ARE ALL SET FOR SAN DIEGO -
AWESOME STUFF SO FAR; I'VE SEEN EVERY GAME BUT 2.
I'M GOING TO NEED SOME R&R WHEN THESE GAME ARE OVER

THE BRACKETS

https://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/bracket

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You can relax when the major league season opens.

It's like watching 3 all star games everyday for two weeks. Unreal. Other than the clunker USA won over Canada, every game has been exciting right down to the end. It's a baseball lover's dream come true

Seiichi Uchikawa knocks in Nobuhiro Matsuda on a sacrifice fly to right in the bottom of the 8th, giving Team Japan a 6-5 lead

Japan on verge of return to Classic semis

TOKYO -- Japan is ready for a trip back to the World Baseball Classic semifinals.

The spot isn't clinched yet, but Tuesday's 8-5 win over Cuba put Japan clearly in control of Pool E. Japan can finish it off with a win over Israel on Wednesday at 6 a.m. ET on MLB.TV and MLB Network, and even a loss to the Israelis wouldn't eliminate Japan from the tournament.

While the Japanese are undefeated through five games at Tokyo Dome, their first two second-round games have been tight to the end. They needed 11 innings to get past the Netherlands, 8-6, on Sunday. Japan had to come from behind three times to beat Cuba on Tuesday, finally going ahead when pinch-hitter Seiichi Uchikawa's sacrifice fly brought home an unearned run in the eighth.

Uchikawa was part of Japan's team that lost to Puerto Rico in the 2013 semifinals. Japan won the World Baseball Classic in both 2006 and '09, and the '13 defeat has stuck with the Japanese players the past four years.

"I had big regrets in 2013," Uchikawa said. "The chemistry of our team now is very good. I hope we come out of here with a 6-0 record and go back to the United States [for the final round at Dodger Stadium]. That's what I'm hoping."

Tetsuto Yamada hit two home runs and scored four runs for Japan, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh had three hits and drove in two runs.

Cuba is 0-2 in the second round and faces a quick turnaround for an 11 p.m. ET game on Tuesday (noon local time Wednesday in Tokyo) against the Netherlands. Even a win over the Dutch wouldn't guarantee the Cubans a chance to move on. They would need to wait for the result of the Japan-Israel game.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Yamada leads the way: Yamada was 3-for-17 in Japan's first four games at WBC 2017. But after watching him take batting practice Tuesday, Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo put Yamada back in the leadoff spot. It worked, as Yamada reached base four times and scored four runs. He led off the first inning with a home run, doubled in the third, walked in the fifth and homered again after Uchikawa's sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Tetsuto Yamada clubs a home run to lead off the bottom of the 1st, then launches a two-run tater in the 8th to help Japan top Team Cuba

"I told the coaches he's going to hit tonight, and he just hit." Kokubo said.

Uchikawa wins it: Uchikawa was a regular for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in both 2009 and '13, but he's a 34-year-old bench player this time around. Kokubo said he told him to be ready to pinch-hit in the eighth if Japan got a runner in scoring position, and he came up in a 5-5 game with runners at first and third and one out. Uchikawa's long fly ball would have fallen foul, but 20-year-old right fielder Victor Victor Mesa caught it.

"I was thinking, 'Please catch it, please catch it,'" Uchikawa said. "In that situation, scoring a run or not scoring is a big difference. But if I'd had an RBI single, it's a better story."
Victor Mesa lines a single to left field, scoring Alfredo Despaigne and Willian Saavedra to give Team Cuba a 4-2 lead

Cespedes sits: WIth Yoelquis Cespedes (half-brother of Yoenis) 0-for-6 in the past two games, Cuba manager Carlos Marti opted to start Mesa in right field against Japan. The switch paid off when Mesa came up with two outs, the bases loaded and the game tied at 2 in the fourth inning. Mesa's two-run single gave Cuba the lead. Mesa's father is former Cuban star and manager Victor Mesa, but he's known as Victor Victor because his older brother is Victor Jr. Marti said Mesa will be back in right field Wednesday.

Good news for the Dutch: The Netherlands didn't have a game Tuesday (local time), but the Dutch had to be happy to see Cuba use up multiple pitchers in its game against Japan. Yoennis Yera, a key left-handed reliever, threw 35 pitches. By tournament rules, he now can't pitch against the Netherlands. Miguel Lahera, a key right-hander, also went past 30 pitches against Japan and won't be available.

"I understand we have to win [against the Netherlands], but we still have two of the best pitchers from the Cuban league available," Marti said.

QUOTABLE

"If we beat Israel, we won't have to worry about any tiebreakers, and we go to Los Angeles. So we want to win." -- Kokubo

WHAT'S NEXT

Cuba: Four years after missing the semifinals because of two second-round losses to the Netherlands, Cuba faces a must-win game against the Dutch at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Right-hander Lazaro Blanco starts for Cuba, with 36-year-old left-hander Diegomar Markwell going for the Netherlands.

Japan: The Japanese will face Israel in their final scheduled second-round game, Wednesday at 6 a.m. ET. Right-hander Kodai Senga, who has appeared in relief in two games, makes his first start of the tournament for Japan. Right-hander Josh Zeid, who has been Israel's closer in the first five games of the tournament, will get the start Wednesday.

BOX SCORES

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/cuba-vs-japan/ ... 486928#Box

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"Hopefully everything is good there when I pitch for my teammates and I can support my country," said Hector Rondon.

Venezuela's win has Rondon pumped to join team

MESA, Ariz. -- Cubs reliever Hector Rondon said Tuesday he will join Team Venezuela for the second round of the World Baseball Classic. Venezuela beat Italy, 4-3, on Monday night to advance, and it will face Team USA on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET in San Diego.

Rondon, 29, who watched Venezuela's win over Italy on Monday, said he was excited to pitch for his country.

"I want to go there so bad, and hopefully everything is good there when I pitch for my teammates and I can support my country," Rondon said.

He does know Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel from playing together in winter ball a couple years ago.

"The only thing he told me was to come and pitch like normal, and that's good [advice] for the team and for me especially," Rondon said.

Rondon began last season as the Cubs' closer, then moved to a setup role when the team acquired Aroldis Chapman. Rondon was on the disabled list last August with a strained right tricep, but he feels 100 percent healthy this spring.

Pitching in the playoffs last year also could help prepare Rondon for the World Baseball Classic.

"It's good for him," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He's really excited about representing his country. Watching him throw, he's in good shape and ready to go. I think getting into that competition now is good for him. It's a win-win situation."
Venezuela scores three in the 9th to take the lead, headlined by Miguel Cabrera's game-tying homer and Rougned Odor's go-ahead RBI single

"I feel it's going to be intense for me and exciting, too," Rondon said. "I've never pitched for my country. I feel maybe it'll be the same adrenaline as in the playoffs and World Series. Hopefully, everything goes good for me."

Dominican Republic players Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz discuss their mentality for the tournament during batting practice

DR prepared for more drama in San Diego
Round 2 game vs. Puerto Rico set for 9 p.m. ET tonight at Petco Park

Team Dominican Republic's motto this World Baseball Classic so perfectly encapsulates its first-round play, you'd think it coined the phrase after advancing.

The Dominicans' mantra: "Have fun and find a way."

That's exactly what they did in pool play, leaving Miami with a 3-0 record after several late-inning celebrations. The winning is the "fun" part and the "finding a way" comes with it, like how they came back against Andrew Miller to beat the Team USA on Saturday and rallied in extras to top Colombia on Sunday.

"It's nice to know we have a good chance, even though anything can happen in this game," third baseman Adrian Beltre said Monday. "It was a little more dramatic than I expected, but they were great games. Hopefully we can get the same here."
Dominican Republic manager Tony Pena talks about the club's chemistry and looks ahead to the second round of the World Baseball Classic

"Here" is Petco Park in San Diego, where the team enjoyed a workout day Monday. Second-round or Pool F play begins Tuesday at 6 pm ET with a battle of undefeated teams as the Dominicans take on Pool D champion Puerto Rico. Only two teams will advance from the pool that also includes the United States and Venezuela.

The defending Classic champions are feeling confident after a series of dramatic wins in front of boisterous crowds at Marlins Park.

"You can play for many different teams and the fans go with the teams, but when you represent your country, the whole Dominican doesn't matter where you go," said slugger Nelson Cruz, who hit the game-winning homer off Miller to beat the U.S. "They are going to follow you."
Nelson Cruz belts a three-run shot to left field off of Andrew Miller, giving Team Dominican Republic a 6-5 lead in the 8th inning

Dominican manager Tony Pena said this year's team is more balanced than the nation's championship team from 2013. Six players from that squad are back this time around, including reigning MVP Robinson Cano and Cruz.

The memories from that tournament inspired Cruz to play again.

"We love it. We breathe baseball," Cruz said. "We won the games we were supposed to win. The whole team did a great job of contributing when we needed. We are where we want to be."

"Everybody is here because they want to be here and they want to represent their country," Pena said. "We didn't come down here to just have a good time and skip Spring Training."

Francisco Lindor and Enrique Hernandez talk about Team Puerto Rico's 3-0 start in the World Baseball Classic to advance to the second round

Puerto Rico rolls into Round 2 with confidence

Team Puerto Rico was the definition of relaxed during its workout Monday at Petco Park. The smiles were bright and the jokes were cracking as the team prepped for the second round of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego.

After rolling through three competitive teams in Italy, Mexico and Venezuela by a combined score of 29-7 to win Pool D, it's easy to understand why.

"The confidence is pretty high and we need that," said Puerto Rico manager Edwin Rodriguez. "We're facing very tough overall teams now."

Indeed, Puerto Rico has its work cut out if it wants to make up for unfinished business from 2013, when it fell to the Dominican Republic in the Classic final. Fittingly enough, that test begins against that very Dominican club Tuesday night (6 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. local on MLB Network and MLB.TV) in a collision that has been four years in the making. The Dominicans are arguably better than they were back in '13, when they ripped off an 8-0 run to the gold, but Puerto Rico is better as well. Featuring a mix of veterans and young stars that is "just perfect," according to Rodriguez, the gang from "La Isla" has already become exceptionally tight in just a few weeks together.

"When you have Carlos Beltran and Yadi Molina talking about hitting and about their whole approach to the game, and how to be a professional baseball player, to players like Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and Carlos Correa -- that's what it's all about," Rodriguez said. "That was one of the reasons that we put together this team."
Francisco Lindor belts a pair of long home runs, including a two-run shot, against Team Mexico

With the tutelage of potential Hall of Famers in Beltran and Molina, Puerto Rico's talented young infield has taken off in this tournament. The trio of Baez, Correa and Lindor combined for five homers in the opening round, adding extra flair with some colorful bat flips in the process. The one question mark about them was putting Correa at third base, a position he had never played in 544 professional games between the Major and Minor Leagues. But Correa has even made that look easy so far, flashing both his leather and his arm with a handful of dazzling plays.

"We all were very surprised," said Rodriguez of how quickly Correa has taken to the hot corner. "He was very athletic, he was coming in on slow ground balls, and he even dove on a ball down the line to his left. He went all over the place."
Carlos Correa hits a home run and makes two great defensive plays in Puerto Rico's 11-0 win over Venezuela

Though the opposition will get harder for Puerto Rico from here, an easy case could be made that it was the tournament's most dominant club in the first round. The club put up a .353/.425/.657 slash line at the plate, while its pitching staff recorded a 1.80 ERA and struck out a batter per inning.

That's what makes Tuesday's tilt with the Dominican so intriguing: Two undefeated teams with a full head of steam, and a pair of fan bases that should make Petco Park shake from first pitch to the final out.

"A lot of people flew from Puerto Rico to Mexico and they're going to be out here as well," said Lindor. "I'm looking forward to seeing the flags wave side to side, and playing against the Dominican will be fun."

Third baseman Nolan Arenado says Team USA is playing with heart and passion at the World Baseball Classic

USA, Venezuela bring big stars to San Diego
Round 2 matchup set for 9 p.m. ET Wednesday at Petco Park

Marquee matchups become commonplace as the World Baseball Classic advances into the later rounds, and Pool F is set to feature one in every game. That includes Wednesday's at Petco Park in San Diego between Venezuela and the United States, two world powers who earned second-round spots as the runners-up from their respective first-round pools.

First pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

Expect a heavyweight battle with great players all over the field for two teams also competing in a bracket with reigning Classic champions Dominican Republic and reigning runner-up Puerto Rico. There are 50 MLB All-Stars spread out across the four Pool F team rosters.

Cross-reference the United States and Venezuela rosters and you'll find 30 All-Stars -- though three, Venezuelan catcher Salvador Perez (injury) and American pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Brett Cecil (unavailable) won't be active. The United States has 20 All-Stars on its roster, led by former MVPs Andrew McCutchen and Buster Posey, while Venezuela has 10 All-Stars, led by former MVP Miguel Cabrera and 2016 AL MVP finalist Jose Altuve.

Both teams entered play as favorites to advance out of pool play, though Venezuela nearly found itself eliminated several times. Venezuela lost its final game of pool play to Mexico to finish a 1-2 record, but still qualified for a tiebreaker game on Monday night. Venezuela then trailed in the ninth inning in that tiebreaker game against Italy before scoring three runs in the ninth to advance.
Miguel Cabrera belts a solo shot to right-center field to tie the game at 2 in the top of the 9th

The United States finished pool play with a 2-1 record after recording an extra-inning win against Colombia and a resounding one in the finale against Canada. The Americans dropped a dramatic 7-5 game to the Dominican Republic in between.

Three things to know about this game

• Venezuela has Cabrera, who hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against Italy in Monday's tiebreaker game, to thank for being here. But its best players throughout pool play were Martin Prado (.438 average, 5 RBIs) and Alcides Escobar (.467 average), who also sprinkled in some fine defensive plays at shortstop.
Alcides Escobar puts on a defensive clinic in Venezuela's win by making a great diving catch on a liner and a strong jump throw in the 9th

• The U.S. leaned heavily on Christian Yelich (.500 average, 3 runs) and Brandon Crawford (.455 average, strong defense) in pool play, as well as a starting staff that didn't allow a run in 12 2/3 innings. The U.S. also features two of the top five finishers in the NL MVP voting from each of the past two seasons: McCutchen, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Daniel Murphy.
Nolan Arenado and Buster Posey both hit home runs as the USA advances to the second round of the World Baseball Classic

• The two teams haven't played one another since 2009, when both advanced out of the same pool in the second-ever Classic. Venezuela went on to finish third in the tournament, while the U.S. finished fourth that year.

I know y'all don't give a crap about the WBC, but, I have to say, you are missing out on some of the best baseball you'll ever want to see. I love baseball so this is a really special treat for me. I've watched all of the past WBC tournaments and nothing compares with this edition.

Haven't seen pictures of all the venues but looks like a lot of empty seats in the ones I have seen.

What's the attendance like, Joe?

I was in Winter Haven at the time of the first WBC. I was going to take in a game at Disney until I found out you couldn't buy tickets for individual games. You had to buy 3 day tickets.

I said no thanks!

Just read that there has been a 34% increase in ticket sales this year for WBC. And that some players, like Mike Trout, are wanting to play next time.

eam USA general manager Joe Torre talks about how the World Baseball Classic brings different cultures together and generates interest

First round of Classic breaks attendance mark

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Carlos Correa, Ryan Lavarnway, Alfredo Despaigne, Jurickson Profar, Danny Duffy, Nelson Cruz and Miguel Cabrera have been eight huge reasons for success in this World Baseball Classic so far, and here's another: the fans.

With the second rounds underway on Tuesday and the field cut in half to eight contenders, officials for the Classic announced that the fourth edition of baseball's marquee world event has already set numerous tournament attendance records -- including a 34 percent increase over the previous first-round record set in 2013.

From Seoul to Tokyo to Jalisco to Miami, the 2017 World Baseball Classic drew 621,851 fans -- well above the 463,017 for the first round four years earlier. The colorful crowds and cool customs have been almost as much fun to watch as the action on the field.

Pool B, held at the Tokyo Dome, registered the largest attendance of any pool in the history of the tournament, with a total of 206,534. The average attendance for Japan's three first-round games was 42,123. Japan's 11-6 victory over Cuba on March 7 -- witnessed by a raucous (and almost constantly singing) crowd of 44,908 -- was the largest attendance of the first round and the third-largest crowd in the tournament's history. Both of those teams advanced.

Pool C, held at Marlins Park in Miami, drew a total of 163,878, which was the highest first-round total attendance for a U.S. pool in the tournament's history. A sellout crowd of 37,446 in the city known as the gateway to Latin America saw the Mariners' Cruz complete a monumental comeback for the Dominican Republic over Team USA. It marked the largest crowd in that ballpark's history, and both of those teams ultimately moved on.

Pools A (Seoul) and D (Jalisco) were played at venues where neither home team was able to advance, an especially shocking development at the former site and perhaps a mild surprise at the latter.

In Pool A at Gocheok Sky Dome, Korea was upset in the first game in front of a packed and boisterous crowd, and Israel emerged as the tournament darlings while advancing with the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Mexico brought a memorable scene of local pageantry as Guadalajara was given a Classic venue for the first time in the state of Jalisco, but it was Puerto Rico and Venezuela that made it out.

Considering that half of the four hosts were eliminated and not part of final drama at their venues (Venezuela beat Italy in a tiebreaker), the attendance record is even more remarkable.

"It's unbelievable. I think every time the event has gotten better," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said of the World Baseball Classic while attending the Israel-Korea opener on March 6. "It's gotten better in terms of quality of play, number of countries, revenue generated, and we're really committed to the event going forward. It's an important part of our international strategy."

Rosters for the 2017 World Baseball Classic feature tournament record totals of 63 MLB All-Stars and 259 players under contract with MLB organizations. The tournament is being distributed via media platforms in 182 countries and territories worldwide with a global reach of more than 415 million households.

Seagull,

Don't pay too much attention to what's in the stands, pay attention to what's going on between the white liines!

Don't really care about the baseball, Joe.

Just wondering if somebody is making or losing money on the WBC.