WBC Daily: Dominican Republic Makes Statement; Italy, Cuba Remain Undefeated

The reigning champions held off a potential spoiler, a tournament favorite sent a statement, and an upstart team in Houston continued its strong start.

The World Baseball Classic action started in Tokyo on Sunday morning, when Stuart Fairchild continued making a big name for himself for Chinese Taipei. 

JUMP TO: Chinese Taipei vs. Korea | Australia vs. Japan | Dominican Republic vs. Netherlands | Colombia vs. Cuba | Great Britain vs. Italy

 Stuart Fairchild Becomes a WBC Star

Fairchild homered again before Chinese Taipei pulled off a win in extra innings against Korea.

Chinese Taipei was down 3-2 entering the eighth, when Fairchild hit a two-run home run to take the lead. Do Yeong Kim answered for the Koreans in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI double, though, and the game went to extras. Kun-Yu Chiang delivered a sacrifice bunt that scored the decisive run.

Fairchild, whose mother is from Taiwan, hit a grand slam in Chinese Taipei’s 14-0 win over Czechia on Saturday morning. Through four games, he’s 5-for-16 with two home runs and six RBIs with a 1.188 OPS.

Chinese Taipei’s Stuart Fairchild hits go-ahead two-run homer, regaining lead vs. Korea

 Australia Can’t Take Down Japan

After two wins to start Pool C play, Australia had a real opportunity to shake up the WBC. The Aussies even had a lead after opening the scoring in the sixth inning.

Japan scored twice in the seventh and eighth innings, though, with Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida getting his team on the board with a two-run home run.

Japan’s Masataka Yoshida hits go-ahead HR, taking lead over Australia

The big story was 30-year-old right-hander Connor MacDonald, who threw three scoreless innings with his brother in the crowd. It was an emotional outing on the biggest stage of MacDonald’s career. He has never played professionally outside of Australia.

 Dominicans Dominate Netherlands

It only took the Dominican Republic seven innings for that squad of stars to beat the Netherlands, and the game ended with a two-run home run by Juan Soto.

Dominican Republic’s Juan Soto hits two-run walk-off home run to defeat Netherlands by run rule

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Junior Caminero each had three RBIs, while every starting Dominican hitter scored at least one run. Luis Severino did the work on the mound with four innings of one-run ball.

The Dominican Republic improved to 2-0 in pool and will face Israel on Monday and then Venezuela in what will be one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament.

 Cuba Stays Unbeaten

Colombia’s WBC hopes are over after it dropped to 0-3 after a 7-4 loss to Cuba, which is 2-0.

Right-hander Luis Patiño only lasted one-third of an inning, allowed four runs on two hits, both of which were home runs. Ariel Martinez and Erisbel Arruebarrena hit the long balls for Cuba.

Next up for Cuba is a huge matchup of 2-0 teams against Puerto Rico on Monday night in San Juan.

 Expresso Shots! Italy Improves To 2-0

Team USA has a huge matchup against Mexico on Monday night, but Italy is not going to go down without a fight. The Italians are 2-0 after a 7-4 win over Great Britain on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

Great Britain opened the scoring with a two-run top of the first inning, but Italy answered with seven runs between the third, fourth and fifth innings. Andrew Fischer, the Brewers’ 2025 first-round pick, and J.J. D’Orazio hit back-to-back jacks in the third to spark the Italian offense – and get its espresso machine going.

Italy’s Andrew Fischer & J.J. D’Orazio hit back-to-back homers, tying game against Great Britain

Italy is off on Monday before it faces the United States on Tuesday and then Mexico on Wednesday.