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Before this year, Israel had never made it to the World Baseball Classic, let alone won a game there. The closest they ever got was in 2013, when they fell one game short of qualifying, losing a winner-take-all game to Spain in extra innings.
Now the self-dubbed "Jew Crew" has clinched an appearance in the second round of this year's WBC, capped off with another win over Pool A favorite, beating the Netherlands 4-2 Wednesday night.
Brewers minor leaguer Cody Decker got another start of Israel, hitting 7th and playing left field this time. He went 1-for-3 before being pinch-hit for in the 7th inning.
Other WBC Results:
Korea 11, Chinese Taipei 8 (F/10): It turns out Wei-Chung Wang decided not to participate in the WBC this year, despite being named to Chinese Taipei's designated pitcher pool. Based on the team's performance in this year's tournament, they probably could've used the pitching help.
Australia 11, China 0 (F/8): No active Brewers in this one, but Mitch Nilsson -- cousin of the always-underrated Dave Nilsson -- is a member of the team from down under, while former Brewer Dave Bush serves as pitching coach for Team China. We won't hold this performance against him, though.
No other official games to recap, but teams starting play on this side of the world today did play tune-up games in Arizona and Florida yesterday.
Yankees 10, Canada 4: Former big leaguer Pete Orr is now a scout for the Brewers, but is getting one last chance to play this year as a member of Team Canada. He went 1-for-3 with a strikeout in this one.
Dominican Republic 10, Pirates 6: Jonathan Villar took over for Robinson Cano in the 6th inning and scored two runs. Wily Peralta got the start and worked one inning, striking out one batter while allowing a hit and a walk, but not allowing any runs.
Giants 6, Puerto Rico 5: Isan Diaz relieved Javier Baez at second base and went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored. This was just a one-off appearance for the Brewers prospect, though, as he was only on loan to the national team for the exhibition game. Jorge Lopez rebounded from a rough couple of appearances in Cactus League play with the Brewers to throw two shutout innings, striking out one while walking another.
Venezuela 11, Royals 0: Latin Babe Ruth Hernan Perez replaced Miguel Cabrera halfway through this one after Cabrera went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI. Out of the kindness of his heart and respect for the game, Perez didn't want to upstage the two-time MVP, so he decided to go 0-for-2.
Brewers in Games Tonight:
Canada vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m. CST (Pete Orr on Team Canada, Jonathan Villar on Team Dominicana)
Mexico vs. Italy, 8 p.m. CST (Carlos Torres on Team Mexico)
Other Games Tonight:
Australia vs. Cuba, 10 p.m. CST