3/14 WBC: Japan (Matsuzaka) vs Mexico (Loaiza) 6pm CT

[Andy]

Airs on ESPN2 at 12:30 am CT.

 

Go Mexico!!!!

 

Edited to add gametime to the thread title

Edited March 14, 2006 by Andy

[wekse]

go japan!

[Jon]

12:30, eh? Hopefully I can watch an inning or two of Daisuke.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Matsuzaka!

[Jon]

Oooh. For some reason, I can watch archived WBC games with a normal gameday audio account, so maybe I'll just watch him tomorrow.

[Andy]

1st and 2nd no one out for the Japanese. :x

[Andy]

Hitoshi Tamura bunts and ends up grounding into a double play :D Man on 2nd with 2 out now.

[Andy]

Loaiza dodged another bullet (2nd and 3rd with 1 out) in the 3rd inning. After 3, it's still scoreless.

[Andy]

Loaiza sucks. Japan loads the bases with no one out, then a two-run single, and a two-run homer. 4-0 Japan.

[jaydee]

hmmm...please korea beat japan or else usa is done for

[Andy]

5-0.

 

Gotta love how Mexico's pitching goes kaput the second we need them.

[Jon]

How does Daisuke's stuff look? I know he only has 2 strikeouts to 2 walks. Does anyone know if he's much of a strikeout pitcher?

 

And if he cracks out a crazy gyroball, please let us know.

 

EDIT: well, he's definitely a strikeout pitcher. 1155 Ks to 468 walks in 1216.1 IP over his career.

[Jon]

Japan wins it 6-1.

[Andy]

So we need Korea to beat Japan, and beat Mexico by enough to secure the runs-given-up tiebreaker.

[WindyCity]

So we need Korea to beat Japan, and beat Mexico by enough to secure the runs-given-up tiebreaker.

 

If Korea beats Japan, all the US has to do is win their game -- no tie-break is needed to decide who advances. If Japan beats Korea.... we need that to be a high-scoring game.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

So we need Korea to beat Japan, and beat Mexico by enough to secure the runs-given-up tiebreaker.

 

If Korea beats Japan, all the US has to do is win their game -- no tie-break is needed to decide who advances. If Japan beats Korea.... we need that to be a high-scoring game.

 

Yep, if Japan beats Korea we need either:

 

Japan to give up 7 runs(6 ties them with the US)

 

Korea to give up 8 runs(7 ties them with the US)

 

 

If either team ties the US, it goes to earned runs. Japan is the only one to give up an unearned run so far, so if the Japan-Korea game has no unearned runs, Korea and US would go to the batting average tiebreaker.

[A New Era]

So what do we want to root for so US is eliminated so Lee and Barret come home?

[Andy]

So what do we want to root for so US is eliminated so Lee and Barret come home?

If Japan beats Korea in a game lower-scoring than 8-7, we're out.

 

If the U.S. loses to Mexico, we're out.

[Diffusion]

To simplify things as much as possible...

 

If Japan beats Korea, the only thing that matters is how many runs Japan score.

 

In the case of less than 7 runs, the US is out.

 

In the case of 7 runs, if the US beats Mexico, there will be complicated tiebreakers.

 

In the case of more than 7 runs, if the US beats Mexico, they advance.

 

 

And, so far, the Koreans have only allowed 7 runs in 5 games the entire tournament.

 

 

So, if you're supporting the US, either root for Korea to win, or for them to get blown-out and mercy-ruled.

[1908]

No love lost between the two remaining teams from Asia. Japan would happily knock Korea out of the tournament if they can. I think team Nippon will win the rematch, but I can't see them scoring 8+ runs in the game.