MLB podcast with Charlie O: Japan’s Nootbaar making a name for himself; D-Backs Carroll signs 8 yr deal for $111M; plus more

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Lars Nootbaar of Japan hits a single against China in the first inning of the Pool B game at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, March 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 One of rising stars in the World Baseball Classic Lars Nootbaar it’s a name that Japanese fans couldn’t pronounce in English or Japanese but they’ve got a handle on it now. Nootbaar whose an outfielder for the St Louis Cardinals has gone 5 for 11 with two RBIs in Japan’s first three games where they’ve gone 3-0.

#2 Top Arizona Diamondbacks prospect rookie Corbin Carroll has signed a $111 million eight year deal after playing only 32 big league games. Carroll has a ninth year option worth $23 million. Carroll hit .260, four home runs in 115 at bats.

#3 How badly will the Philadelphia Phillies miss pitching prospect Andrew Painter will miss up to four weeks due to a UCL sprain. The good news Painter may not need elbow surgery. Painter was counting to make the opening pitching staff but had to get an MRI after experiencing a tender elbow.

#4 The Houston Astros after signing Jose Abreu as their everyday first baseman had no plans on keeping Yuli Gurriel who was a big part of those Astros championship teams. Gurriel signed with the Miami Marlins. Gurriel was limited as to where he was going as his numbers were going south hitting a career worst, .242, 53 runs, 53 RBIs, 8 home runs, and 132 hits.

#5 Charlie former San Francisco Giant starter Carlos Rodon will start the 2023 season on the shelf for the New York Yankees after it was announced that Rodon will be on the IL due to a forearm strain. The Yankees said that Rodon will not pitch for at least seven to ten days. The Yanks had big expectations from Rodon that’ll just have to wait a couple more weeks.

Join Charlie O for all the latest headlines in MLB Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

World Baseball Classic: USA uses 4 pitchers to close out Great Britain 6-2

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United States’ Kyle Schwarber, right, celebrates with third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a three-run home run against Great Britain during the fourth inning of the World Baseball Classic at Chase Field in Phoenix, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (AP News photo)

GB. 2. 6. 2

USA. 6 9. 0

Sat March 11, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

PHOENIX–After this afternoon’s upset of Mexico by Colombia, it seemed that we’d run out of unexpected events, but it seems as if the suburb to the northwest of Phoenix isn’t the only surprise in Arizona. Great Britain’s second man at bat, Tracy Thompson, took Adam Wainwright 391 feet deep into the seats in right right center to give the Brits a 1-0 lead before the Yanks could even face a pitch thrown in anger.

But one there were no shocks to our anticipation, Team USA manhabndled their guests, 6-2. The USA used four pitchers, Wainwright, who got the win, and Jason Adam, Kyle Freehand, an David Bender. GB used six, Vance Worley, the loser, followed by Jacob Esch, Ryan Long, Daniel Cooper,and Michael Peterson. The American attack was led by Nolan Arenado with three hits, two or them doubles and two RBI in five times at bat and Kyle Schwerber, who drove in three while going one for three.

The USA came close to drawing even in its half of the first by loading the bases against Worley, a right hander who pitches for the independent league team out of Kane County, IL, after a big league career that netted a record of 35-36, 4.09. The threat was put together by a single by Nola Arenado sandwiched between walks to Paul Goldshchmidt and Kyle Scnwarber. It ended with Trea Turner grounding out to second.

Two innings later, they took the lead, never to relinquish it, driving Worley from the box in the process. With one down, Goldschmidt reached first on a throwing error by second sacker Anfernese Seymour. Arenado drove him in with a two bagger into the left field corner. Turner flew out, and Turner drew a walk.

Kyle Tucker’s single to center brought Turner home with the leading tally before Jeff McNeil flew out to left to end the frame. Jacob Esch, another righty, replaced Worley after to walk to Turner. Worley’s line was 2-2/3 inning pitched; two runs allowed, both unearned; with three walks and a strike out. He threw 60 pitches, 12 for strikes.

Esche lasted 22 pitches, leaving after he’d walked Mike Trout and hit Goldschmidt with one to in the fifth. He gave way to Ryan Long. Schwarber touched him for a 428 foot homer to right center that put the hone team up, 5-1.

Jason Adam came in to pitch for the USA when Wainwright had completed four innings of work. The only run he’d allowed was Thompson’s first inning blast. He allowed a total of four hits and a walk, striking out four. He threw 49 pitches, 36 for strikes. Lefty Kyle Freehand took over mound duties to start the sixth, retired the side in order, and let in a run on a pinch hit triple to D’Shawn Knowles and a ground out to Seymour in the second. Bender wrapped things up in the ninth.

Daniel Cooper pitched the sixh for the Brits and surrendered another run. Michael Peterson came on in the eighth

On Sunday, when California goes on daylight time while most of Arizona stays on standard time, the games will start at noon and 7:00 pm in both places. Great Britain will return for the 12:00 game against Canada, and Mexico will face the USA in the nightcap. We’ll be there.

Lewis Rubman is a MLB beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Defending Champions San Antonio FC Dominate Oakland’s Season Opener 3-1

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The Oakland Roots opened up their regular season at Toyota Field in San Antonio on Sat Mar 11, 2023

The Defending Champions Dominate Oakland’s Season Opener

Written By Troy Ewers

The Oakland Roots’ season opener started against last year’s USL Championship trophy winners, San Antonio FC in Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas and it was a game to hopefully learn from. Learn what not to do. The game ended 3-1 with San Antonio visibly outplaying Oakland.

Between sloppy penalties and San Antonio’s Lamar Batista scoring two highlight reel goals, the game from opening whistle to the final, the game was all San Antonio FC. The first 18 minutes Oakland didn’t develop offense and on top of that Joseph Nane and Elgardo Rito got yellow cards in the first 16 minutes, so it was clear Oakland couldn’t get their footing.

In minute 12, Niko Hansen of San Antonio FC scored the first goal of the game off an attack starting at midfield and the momentum at this point felt lopsided. Last year when San Antonio scored the first goal of the game, they didn’t lose and this stayed true.

In stoppage time on a corner kick, Lamar Batista bicycle kicked a goal which silenced the Roots’ chance of a Cinderella moment. In the second half of the game it was a slow and sloppy game from both sides, because it was hot and humid, reported to be 88 degrees at 8pm in San Antonio, and both teams at this point had little in the gas tank, but in the 57th minute Oakland’s Guillermo Diaz gets a beautiful pass and cleans it up scoring the only goal of the night for Oakland and even after this brilliant display of offense, the Roots never built anymore steam.

After a stalemate in minute 74, Lamar Batista accidentally had an amazing goal where he lobbed the ball all the way from midfield and Oakland’s goalkeeper Blanchette couldn’t get a grasp on the ball and Batista scored. The final whistle would sound after seven minutes of stoppage and San Antonio FC would win 3-1.

The takeaways from this game are that Oakland couldn’t keep up with the defending USL champions. Oakland on paper had a better game. 66% possession time, even shots on goal with San Antonio, and more corner kicks, but visibly Oakland never had an advantage.

The thing that they can learn from this game is to stay more disciplined, because the categories they didn’t win at were yellow cards. This season will be interesting for the Oakland Roots, but if there’s more discipline, their defense can help them develop more of an offense. The two Batista goals for San Antonio weren’t flukes but don’t happen again if these two play again, so Oakland’s defense is a highlight and with less yellows, you can see a different outcome. Oakland’s next game will be against Rio Grande.

Espinoza’s first tally of the season provide Earthquakes 1-0 shutout win over Rapids

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San Jose Earthquakes forward Christian Espinoza celebrates his game winning goal over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday MAR 11, 2023. (Dario Cruz-Tectonic Takes)

by Marko Uklaovic

SAN JOSE — Christian Espinoza is proving he’s the guy you count on to seize the opportunity.

Espinoza’s first goal of the season in the 78th minute, proved to be the game winner as the San Jose Earthquakes shutout the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has won two of its first three matches to start the season. Colorado had its third consecutive game without scoring a goal. It is the first time since 2015 that they have gone scoreless in its first three matches to start the season.

Espinoza, who is only five assists away from becoming the all-time assist leader in Quakes history, gathered the rebound off of a Miguel Trauco shot. The Argentinean striker dribbled to the right before firing a right-footed shot top from just beyond the box top shelf past Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough for his first goal of the season that sent the Quakes faithful into a frenzy.

“He is lethal with his right foot in terms of a cross or a shot,” said Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez regarding Espinoza. “Can we get him opportunities to get more shots? That is something that we want to keep working on. Also with his left foot, he is good at cutting inside and scoring with his left as well. He showed that in preseason. We are really proud of him and a player that is relentless with his energy and his mentality, and then when he has a little bit of space and can get a shot or a cross in, we know he can create issues. We want to keep doing that.”

San Jose (2-1-0) had the pitch tilted in its favor for the majority of the first half as the generated numerous scoring chances. Their best chance came in the 35th minute when Espinoza’s attempt from 25 yards out was knocked off the cross bar when Yarbrough was able to get a hand on the ball keeping it out of the back of the net.

Carlos Akapo made his first career MLS start at right back for San Jose and made an impact with helping out on the offensive attack while providing stability on the backline.

Colorado (0-2-1) played on their heels throughout the opening 45 minutes as were not able to generate any quality scoring chances as the Quakes backline held down the fort.

Throughout the second half San Jose came close to breaking through on the scoreboard as they generated four quality scoring chances, that included two saves from Yarbrough, before Espinoza’s tally.

Gonzalez praised his team’s effort and was happy San Jose came away with three points and not just one.

“You saw me celebrate it (Espinoza’s goal). I’m very happy for him (Espinoza) and the team find a goal because it wasn’t easy. Colorado defended well. Look had we not scored, and it ended up tied, I would’ve still been proud of how the guys played. Of course, I would’ve been disappointed had we not scored but would’ve been proud with the identity of our team we’ve established since training in the preseason,” Gonzales said.

Espinoza was glad he was able to contribute to the team’s success this early into theseason.

“We always try to find the free spaces to take that kind of shot, especially in front of the goal. Sometimes we can do it, and sometimes we can’t. But for that it’s very important that the team is committed to move the ball side to side and today I think that we had a great game,” Espinoza said.

‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, who made his first start of the season, had a perfect clean sheet as Colorado failed to generate any shots on target during the match. Yarbrough made three saves on four shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with five corner kicks. Colorado had three.

San Jose is now 32-25-18 all-time vs. the Colorado Rapids, including a 19-9-9 record at home. They went 1-4-2 against Colorado last season.

The Quakes have only lost once when hosting the Rapids at PayPal Park since its opening in 2015 (6-1-2).

Midfielder Jackson Yueill made his 150th MLS appearance. Yueill is now tied with Jon Busch for the ninth most appearances in club history.

Tonight’s attendance was 13,383.

UP NEXT: San Jose will play its inaugural game against St. Louis City next Saturday at 5:00pm at CityPark.

Wild use balanced attack to defeat Sharks 5-2

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The Minnesota Wild’s defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) scores the first goal of the game against the San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer (47) in the first period at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 11, 2023 (@mnwild photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 11, 2023

Five different Minnesota players scored, John Klingberg and Ryan Hartman each assisted on two of its goals, as the Wild defeated San Jose 5-2 Saturday at SAP Center.

It was the third straight loss for the Sharks after beating Winnipeg on the road on Monday.

The Wild (38-21-7, 83 points) opened the scoring at 1:44 of the first period on Jared Spurgeon’s 10th goal of the season, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead t the first intermission.

San Jose (19-36-12, 50 points) tied the game at 1-1 at 10:19 of the second period when Logan Couture scored on the power-play on assists from Erik Karlsson – his 64th helper – and Tomas Hertl. It was Couture’s 23rd goal of the season. Minnesota regained the lead just over two minutes before the second intermission on a power-play goal by Frederick Gaudreau.

The Wild extended their lead to 3-1 30 seconds into the third period when Marcus Johansson scored his 14th. Hertl’s 19th goal of the season, a power-play tally, pulled the Sharks to within 3-2 at 8:36. But Mats Zuccarello scored for Minnesota on the power-play at 11:00 and Matt Boldy addd an empty-netter at 18:03 to put the game away.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 of 37 shots for Minnesota, while Sharks netminder James Reimer faced 28 shots, stopping 24.

The Sharks’ homestand continues on Tuesday, when they host Columbus.

Barnes leads with 19 pts in Kings third straight win over Suns 128-119

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Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) pressures Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul (3) during the first half at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Sat Mar 11, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Sacramento Kings (40-26) traveled to Phoenix to take on the Suns (37-30). It was a battle between the second and fourth place teams in the Western Conference. The Kings picked up their third straight win 128-119.

The Kings fell behind early in the first quarter trailing 17-6 at 6:53. As the first 12 minutes came to an end, the Kings had made up a lot of ground trailing by a single point 32-31.

The Kings started the second quarter on a great note tying up the game at 36 in the early minutes of the quarter. The Kings would take the lead with nine minutes left in the half 39-38 and continue to maintain a slim lead throughout the remainder of the second quarter.

As the quarter wound down Sacramento extended their lead. They had turned the slow start around and led at the half 67-59. The Kings went to the line 26 times in the first half, forced turnovers and outshot the Suns from downtown 38% to the Suns 22%.

After two quarters the Kings bench was outstanding collectively scoring 37 points. De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Harrison Barnes each had 8 points in the opening half.

The Suns began to chip away at the Kings lead in the third quarter. At 3:29 Phoenix took the lead 85-81. Sacramento had some untimely turnovers and empty possessions. With under three minutes left in the third the score was tied at 85. The Kings held onto a slim one point lead after three quarters 96-95. Malik Monk had 15 points going into the fourth quarter. He was three of four from downtown and was a huge part of the Kings lead.

The Kings have the best offense in clutch situations and they would go on to prove just that. This game continued to see-saw with both teams trading the lead. With seven minutes left the score was tied at 105. With 1:22 left in the game the Kings were clinging to a one point lead 119-118. Fox made a 17 foot jump shot to push the lead to 121-118 with 58 seconds left on the clock. Kessler Edwards hit a three-point jumper to seal the win 128-119.

Sabonis was terrific on the pick and roll defense. He finished the game with 8 rebounds and 15 points. The clutch player on the floor tonight and quite frankly almost every night Fox had 18 points and six assists. The bench was a huge part of this win with 65 points. Seven Kings scored in double digits in this game. The Kings just punched they’re 40th win of the season.

Monday night the Kings will be challenged as they take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Golden 1 Center. The Bucks come into this game after losing in overtime to the Golden State Warriors Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM

Griffith’s hat rick dooms Barracuda in Condors 6-2 win, split weekend series

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Seth Griffith and Raphael Lavoie celebrate Griffith’s goal against the San Jose Barracuda on Friday MAR 11, 2023. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Bakersfield Condors blitzed the San Jose Barracuda with five unanswered goals including a hat trick from Seth Griffith in a 6-2 crushing victory on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose had its two-game winning streak snapped. Bakersfield went back up five points on San Jose for seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

It was a reversal of fortune for the home team as they turned the tables to split the two-game series. The night before they were dominated by San Jose in almost the same fashion.

Bakersfield (27-26-2-2-58 points) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Greg McKegg stole the puck behind the San Jose net and centered a pass to an open Seth Griffith and the veteran forward buried a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Aarond Dell for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:45 mark.

San Jose (24-28-1-4-53 points) evened the score just under four minutes later. Thomas Bordeleau made a power move around a Condors defender. Bordelaeu’s shot was blocked but ‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino cleaned up the rebound sliding the puck past Condor’s goalie Calvin Pickard for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 13:24 mark.

The Condors regained the lead late in the opening 20 minutes on the man advantage. After Cam Dineen kept the puck inside the ‘Cuda zone, James Hamblin sent a cross ice pass over to Raphael Lavoie who snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his 21st goal of the season at the 18:52 mark.

Bakersfield dominated the first period as the outshot San Jose 22-4.

Lavoie scored his second goal of the game with an even strength goal early in the second period. Lavoie had a give and go with Griffith, and he used a ‘Cuda defender as a screen to roof a wrist shot past Dell for his team leading 22nd goal at the 6:40 mark.

A controversial play led to Bakersfield third unanswered goal of the middle frame. Nick Cicek was apparently tripped up at his own blue line by Griffth. The officials let the play continue with no penalty on the play and Griffith skated in on a breakaway and beat Dell with a backhander for his second goal of the game and 15th of the season at the 14:40 mark.

Noah Philp gave Bakersfield a 5-1 lead just under three minutes later when he scored his 14th goal of the season with a shot top shelf to the short side at the 17:34 mark.

‘Cuda head coach replaced Dell in the net with backup goalie Strauss Mann to start the third period in attempt to shake things up as his team floundered during the first 40 minutes of the game. Dell (10-12-1) allowed five goals on 33 shots.

Griffith completed his hat trick with a 5-on-3 power play goal at the 11:01 mark of the final frame.

Darren Brady picked up his third goal of the season at the 14:03 mark when he finished off a pass from Brandon Coe with a wrist shot that beat Pickard.

Pickard (17-9-2) stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to earn the victory. Mann made seven saves on eight shots in mop up duty for the ‘Cuda.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Bakersfield went 2-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Griffith 2) Lavoie 3) Jason Demers

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday at 10:30am at Tech CU Arena.

Warriors win thriller in OT beat Bucks 125-116; Giannis sits out with wrist injury

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Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (22) looks to pass the ball while being defended by Golden State Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo during the first half at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sat Mar 11, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

It was quite a night for the Golden State Warriors (35-33) they returned home to the friendly confines of the Chase Center. The Warriors lost the last three games on their recent road trip to the Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, And Memphis Grizzlies.

In addition, Jonathan Kuminga sprained his ankle and was not in the lineup on Saturday. The Warriors still needed the services of Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins has been gone for almost a month with family matters. Steve Kerr said that as much as he would like to have Wiggins back, it needs to be clarified if he returns before the season ends.

Kerr had to find a way to beat the Milwaukee Bucks (48-19). The Bucks entered the game with the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was out due to a wrist injury. One team wanted to snap a three-game losing streak.

The other team wanted to extend their nine-game win streak on the road. The question was not answered in regulation as the Warriors, trailed by eight with two minutes left to play, went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 111-111. In the five-minute overtime period, the Warriors outscored the Bucks 14-5 to win the game 125-116.

Both teams had little offense in the first half. The Bucks shot 34% from the floor, while the Warriors were slighty better at 35%. The Warriors finished the first half with a slight lead, 50-49. JaMychal Green, coming off the bench, led the Warriors with 13. Donte DiVincenzo was second with 12. Klay Thompson had four, and Stephen Curry had seven.

In the NBA, teams get their offense going in the second half. The Warriors won the third quarter 30-28 to finish the third period with a three-point lead, 80-77. The Bucks knew they had a chance to get the win. In the fourth quarter, Milwaukee looked like they would pin a loss on the Warriors.

With about two minutes left to play, the Bucks led by eight. Milwaukee was killing the Warriors from behind the three-point arc. Joe Ingles, Jrue Holiday, and Jevon Carter were making threes. The Warriors’ Curry got hot in the fourth quarter, and he kept the Warriors close.

However, the clock was not in the Warriors favor as they trailed by eight. Clay, Thompson, and DiVincenzo led the Warriors rally as they rallied to tie the game, 111-111. The Warriors defense stopped Jrue Holiday as he was going in to make the winning bucket. The Warriors got the ball back with 1.9 seconds. Curry inbounded the ball to Green. Green’s three-point shot was not good. The game went to overtime.

In the overtime period, the Bucks scored first, and the Warriors came back to tie the game. Curry led the offense, and the Warriors defense stepped up to hold the Bucks to three points in the five-minute overtime period. The Warriors won 125-116.

Game Notes- The Warriors improved to 35-33. The Bucks are now 48-19.
Curry was the offensive star for Golden State. Curry was everywhere on the court in the fourth quarter and the overtime period. Curry made one three-point shot in the first half. He made five in the second half. Thompson did not make a three in the first half.

Thompson knocked down four in the second half. The Warriors had five players in double figures. Curry led the team with 36. Thompson had 22, and DiVincenzo had 20. DiVincenzo made six threes. DiVincenzo also had a double-double as he pulled down ten boards. JaMychal Green had 18, and Jordan Poole added 13. Draymond Green tallied five points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists. Kevon Looney had seven points and 15 rebounds.

The Bucks had six players in double-figures. Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 19 points each. Jrue Holiday added 18. Included in his 18 were four threes. Joe Inglis, who loves to kill the Warriors by making threes, continued his onslaught as he connected five times from three-point range. Bobby Portis helped the Bucks with 15.

The Warriors host the Phoenix Suns at the Chase Center Monday night. The Suns will be without Kevin Durant. Durant sprained an ankle and will be out for a month. The game will start at 7 pm.

World Baseball Classic: Columbia edges Mexico 5-4 in Phoenix

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Colombia just gets by Mexico in the World Baseball Classic on Sat Mar 11, 2023 at Chase Field in Phoenix (mlb.com image)

Colombia vs. Mexico

Colombia 5 7 1

Mexico 4. 9. 1

Sat Mar 11, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

PHOENIX–Oscar Mercado fouled off Julio Urías’s first pitch at 12:38 Mountain Time this warm and sunny Saturday afternoon under the closed roof of Chase field signaled the opening of the long awaited start of the 2023 World Baseball Classic in the western United States.

The Dodgers stellar southpaw would go five innings for Team Mexico against Colombia, the other Latin American entry in Group C ,before giving way to Luis Cessa.. Urías hurled 62 pitches, 19 of which were balls, allowing three runs, all of them earned, on there hits, one of them a homer, and striking out six,in what proved to be a stunning extra inning win for Colombia, who defeated the favored Mexicans in 10 innings, 5-4.

Colombia used seven pitchers, with righty Guillermo Zúñiga, who hurled the last two frames getting the win. Mexico sent five men to the mound, and the loss went to Jesús Cruz, who lost because of circumstances beyond his control in the tenth, the only frame he pitched.

Urias didn’t allowing a base runner over his first four frames. And thens roof fell in. Back to back doubles by Jorge Alfaro and Elias Diaz brought in the former and a 342 round tripper over the left field fence off the bat of Elias Diaz gave the Colombians their second and third scores. The bottom third of lineup then went down in order.

Colombia’s skipper Edgar Remteria and pitching coach Walter Miranda entrusted his teams fortunes to Nabil Crismatt, a righty who’s pitched for the Cardinals and Padres, going 5-2, 294 for San Diego last year. He pitched well out of the gate.

Although he couldn’t match Urias’s perfect performance over the four opening frames, Colombia’s starter shut out he Mexican squad over 3-1/3 innings, allowing only one hit, a double to right center by Randy Arozamena in the first that showed that, in spite of the success the the visitors would owe to a that play,

The Curse of the Led Off Double applies to the WBC. But then, Mexico broke through in the home fourth on a single lead off single to center by Joey Menenses, who advanced to second on Rudy Téllez’s bouncer to the mound and scored on Isaac Parades’s double to center.

Crismatt gave way to Jhon Romero as soon as Mexico came up in the bottom of the fifth. Crisatt had thrown 57 piches, 34 strikes, over his four inning stint, during which he allowed one run, which was earned, on three hits and struck out an equal number of Mexico’s batters, while walking one.

Romero lasted a mere 2/3 of an inning, blowing his inherited 3-1 lead on a 389 two run blast into the left field seats by first baseman Reynaldo Ramirez. The reliever threw 18 pitches, 10 for strikes, yielding one walk on two hits. Both of the runs he allowed were earned. Adrían Almeida replaced him to get the third out and returned to the mound for the sixth. He escaped damage in that frame thanks to an inning ending 6-4-3 twin killing.

Both teams pushed a man across the plate in the seventh. Colombia did it on a single by Reynaldo Rodgríguez plated Jorge Alfaro, who had doubled. They would have scored more if it hadn’t been for a beautiful around the horn double play started by Isaac Paredes’ grab of a hard grounder down the line by Jordán Díaz of the Oakland Athletics.

Mexico re-tied that score on Alex Verdugo’s single to center that drove in Aleck Thomas, who also had reached on a single to center and gone to second on another safety by Austin Barnes. The run was charged to Reiver San Martin, although it was Pedro García suffered Verdugo’s punishing blow.

Colombia scratched out a run in the top of the tenth off Jesús Cruz. Zombie runner Alfaro advanced to third on Díaz’s fly to right .Mexico conceded a walk to Rodríguez.

Jarren Durán pinch ran for emplaced runner Verdugo. Meneses struck out swinging. Téllez flew out to left, and Paredes was called out on strikes, the last one of which was questionable.

Great Britain will play the United States at 7:00. If the visitors pull off a win, THAT would be an upset!

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Briere named interim GM for Flyers; Taveras back in line up tonight for Leafs after undisclosed illness; plus more news

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The Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager seen in this Tue Aug 18, 2015 photo was named as interim general manager replacing Chuck Fletcher on Fri Mar 10, 2023 (AP News file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers fired general manager Chuck Fletcher Friday. Flyers Chairman Dave Scott the Flyers have not lived up to the expected standard. The Flyers have been to the post season only once since 2018. Scott announced Daniel Briere has been named the Flyers interim general manager.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs John Taveras will be in the line up tonight, Taveras did not play Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils because of a undisclosed illness. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that Taveras had not felt like himself. Taveras said that he’s looking forward to getting back on the ice for tonight’s game.

#3 The Minnesota Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov has been listed out with a lower body injury and will miss three to four weeks in a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets Kaprizov was taken down by the Jets Logan Stanley in the third period and was assisted off the ice favoring his left leg.

#4 Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that he’s not quite sure how long it will take for forward Gabriel Landeskog will be able to return to his top form after having knee surgery. Bednar said that he was concerned for Landeskog as he hasn’t played all season.

#5 The Ottawa Senators announced that goaltender Cam Talbot will miss up to three to four weeks due to a lower body injury. Talbot sat out on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks resulting in a 5-0 loss. Mads Sogaard will be working between the pipes for Ottawa tonight in Calgary.

Join Matt Harrington for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com