The miracle ended on Monday night for the undefeated Israel team. It was finally stopped by the Netherlands, which Israel had beaten in round one of the World Baseball Classic tournament, MLB.com reported. The Dutch hitters struck early in a game and never let up in their 12-2 win over the Cinderella team Israel, and the game was cut to eight innings according to the tournament’s early-termination rule.
Yankee Didi Gregorius doubled, homered and collected in five runs as the Dutch kept alive their hopes to make it to the semifinals – they lost in 11 innings to Japan and will now face Cuba. The Israelis are gearing up for their do-or-die game against the favorite Japan, in Tokyo, Wednesday, 6 AM ET.
“We didn’t execute pitches,” said Israel manager Jerry Weinstein. “We fell behind and threw too many non-competitive pitches.”
Israel has a strong bullpen, and it saved the day on Sunday, when Jason Marquis went into the sixth inning against Cuba. Monday night, right-hander Corey Baker (Cardinals) couldn’t get the out in the third inning against the Dutch team.
