Men's Baseball WBSC Premier12 2019

[dcro 10,210]

It's looking good for Mexico. But then again, they could play a bronze medal match against USA and lose it all.

[phelps 7,670]

12 hours ago, dcro said:

It's looking good for Mexico. But then again, they could play a bronze medal match against USA and lose it all.

 

and it's looking even better for Mexico after today's win over Australia...

 

strong start (1 run in the 1st inning and 2 in the 4th) and once again a perfect team effort & management of the pitching staff (4 guys givin'up no runs and only 4 hits -all against the starter, Eduardo vera, who went 5 innings- and 1 base-on-balls)...

 

Final score: Mexico, 3 b. Australia, 0

 

Boxscore

https://premier12.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results/box-score/3961

 

 

but yeah, they're still at risk of having to play a direct match-up for the Olympic spot against the USA in the Bronze Medal match (US boys who are expected to lose against Japan later today, so, nothing's gonna change in perspective at least until tomorrow)...

 

menawhile the KOR vs TPE match-up could be a bit more decisive in the race for the Asia/Oceania spot...

 

 

p.s. watching the Tokyo Dome basically empty is so sad...

 

p.p.s. having a stadium like the Tokyo Dome and not using it for the Olympic Tournament is one of most idiotic decisions the Tokyo 2020 Organizers/IOC could take...

[dcro 10,210]

2 hours ago, phelps said:

p.p.s. having a stadium like the Tokyo Dome and not using it for the Olympic Tournament is one of most idiotic decisions the Tokyo 2020 Organizers/IOC could take...

 

I'm kind of glad though. I don't like indoor baseball.

[dcro 10,210]

USA beats Japan. Taiwan destroys Korea.

 

[phelps 7,670]

5 hours ago, dcro said:

 

I'm kind of glad though. I don't like indoor baseball.

 

meanwhile I don't like too much the game played under the sun...

 

and, above all, I find the Yokohama Stadium so ugly...

 

outdoor stadium for outdoor stadium, the ZOZO Marine stadium (where some games of this tournament are played) is a billion times more beautiful (capacity is the same of Yokohama's, just 30,000 seats, which I think it's more than enough for a low level Olympic tournament)...

[phelps 7,670]

very surprising and interesting results in today's late games...

 

and Mexico now are the only undefeated team in the tournament...

 

United States, 4 b. Japan, 3 (no 3rd comeback for ther hosts...their pitching staff is definitely underperforming -and I have more than a doubt also about the personnel chosen by the manager & the pitching coach- and their batsmen...well, it looks they're in a true slump)...

Boxscore

https://premier12.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results/box-score/3963

 

Chinese Taipei, 7 b. South Korea, 0 (Taipei's starter Chang Yi having the night of his life, while the Koreans just didn't show up...sometimes it happens...luckily, thanks to this result in particular, we're going to have a more exciting next couple of gamedays)...

Boxscore

https://premier12.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results/box-score/3962

 

Tomorrow, 2 games are scheduled (from now on, all the remaining matches will be played in the Tokyo Dome): Australia vs USA @ Noon local time / 4 a.m. CET and a super-interesting Mexico vs Japan @ 7 p.m. local time / 11 a.m. CET...

 

should the Mexicans win also tomorrow's match, they would be mathematically qualified to the Gold Medal game and the fight for the second spot into the super-Final would become a real mess, meanwhile should the Samurai win, we would likely have a 3-team (JPN, MEX, KOR) race for the 2 spots into Sunday's decider, with both MEX vs KOR and JPN vs KOR still to be played in the final 2 days of the round robin play...

[phelps 7,670]

really unexpected loss by the United States against Australia earlier this morning (1-2 the final score, with the 2 Aussies' runs scored in the top of the first inning that proved to be enough to earn them a historic win and a small hope to still be able to play for the Asia/Oceania Olympic spot)...

 

with this result, Mexico is a lot closer to earn the Panamerican Olympic spot and with only 1 more win in the last 2 games, they would also qualify for the first time ever to the Gold Medal match of a senior WBSC Global event (qualification that would be really deserved, imho)...

 

Australia, 2 b. USA, 1

 

Boxscore

https://premier12.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results/box-score/3964

[phelps 7,670]

It all happened in the early stages of the big match...

 

Japan scored twice in the 1st inning and once in the second against a shaky Mexican starting pitcher (Horacio Ramirez), meanwhile Mexico could only answer with a solo HR by Jonathan Jones in the top of the 4th...

 

apart from that, the game was totally under control of the pitching staffs, with Imanaga (starter), Kaino, Yamamoto (relievers) and Yamasaki (closer) givin'up only 1 hit and 2 base-on-balls in 9 innings...

 

Final score: Japan, 3 b. Mexico, 1

 

Boxscore

https://premier12.wbsc.org/en/2019/schedule-and-results/box-score/3965

 

 

following this game, the standings before the rest day (tomorrow) look like this:

 

Japan, 3W - 1L

Mexico, 3W - 1L

South Korea, 2W - 1L

Chinese Taipei, 1W - 2L

Australia, 1W - 3L

United States, 1W - 3L

 

the key games on Friday and Saturday are: USA vs TPE above all, because a US loss would eliminate them from both the Olympic race for the Panamerican spot and the chance to reach the Bronze Medal match...

 

then, MEX vs KOR, with a lot of implications for both teams (and JPN, too)...

 

finally, according to the results of those 2 match-ups, JPN vs KOR and/or TPE vs AUS could also become decisive for the Olympic qualification and also the final placements in the Super-Round (and the consequential qualification to the Gold and/or Bronze Medal matches)...

 

in a few words, we have 4 games left (all of them with potential big implications in the outcome of the whole tournament) and a totally undetermined situation in the standings...could someone ask for more?

[dcro 10,210]

USA defeated Taiwan so they are probably safe for the bronze medal match.

 

On the other hand, if Mexico loses against Korea, then they will be looking to go into the decisive match following two consecutive losses...

[phelps 7,670]

2 hours ago, dcro said:

USA defeated Taiwan so they are probably safe for the bronze medal match.

 

On the other hand, if Mexico loses against Korea, then they will be looking to go into the decisive match following two consecutive losses...

 

I wouldn't say the US guys are safe in Bronze Medal match...they still need TPE to beat AUS tomorrow and KOR not to end with a 2W-3L record (since they can't match the Team Quality Balance of both KOR and TPE in a 3-way tie with them)...

 

meanwhile, if TPE lose to AUS, the USA are 5th and out of the medal matches in any case (as they lost to both KOR and AUS, the only teams they can still reach in the standings -not counting TPE, as they are going to end up behind the USA whatever it happens in the remaining games)...

 

on the other side, in the top half of the standings, if MEX lose to KOR, they are mathematically out of the Gold Medal game (tomorrow's JPN vs KOR becomes a warm-up match towards Sunday's Gold Medal game between the 2 Asian powerhouses), as they would have lost the direct match-ups with both KOR and JPN, the only teams they can finish tied with (a 3-way tie is not possible)...

they really need to win today, if they want to make their first ever senior global big final...

Edited November 15, 2019 by phelps