WBC IGT: Italian Americans v. Dominican Republic 3/9/06

[Guest Rotblatt]

Oliver Perez pitching for the Dominicans.

Giarratano on second. Menechino tried to advance him to third but failed.
Catalanotto at bat, with Piazza (I think) on deck.

Catalanotto with a single up the middle! 1-0 Italy!

[Guest Rotblatt]

Lineups

Italy

1. Giarratano, SS
2. Menechino, 2B
3. Catalanotto, LF
4. Piazza, DH
5. Sinisi, CF
6. Pascucci, 1B
7. Saccomanno, 3B
8. Gregorrio, C
9. Delucchi, RF

P: Tony Fiore, RHP

Dominican Republic

1. J. Reyes, SS
2. P. Polanco, 2B
3. A. Pujols, 1B
4. D. Ortiz, DH
5. M. Alou, LF
6. A. Beltre, 3B
7. J. Encarnacion, CF
8. W. Pena, RF
9. R. Paulino, C (Pittsburgh farm system)

P: Oliver Perez, LHP

[Guest Rotblatt]

Piazza fouls out on the first pitch he sees. ugh. And Sinisi ground out to Jose Reyes at short to end the inning.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Reyes takes the first two pitches he sees--2-0. Now he hits a foul ball down the right field line.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Reyes with a ground ball base hit!

[Guest Rotblatt]

Sacamano with a throwing error on a ground ball by Polanco. Everyone's safe--runners on 1st & 2nd for Pujols.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Ugh. Saccomanno bobbles a grounder by Pujols, then rushes a throw to second which goes into right field. Pujols get tied up between 1st & 2nd in a run-down, and Polanco broke home. They tried to get Polanco at home, but yet another bad throw allowed Pujols to make second.

Pujols called out for running outside the basepaths. Ortiz up with the bases empty. 1 out.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Ortiz fouls off a couple tough pitches by Fiore and works out a walk.

Alou up.

Fiore must be pretty fucking crabby right now.

John Franco is the pitching coach for Italy! Who knew?

[Guest Rotblatt]

Fiore (Baltimore prospect) afraid to throw strikes now that his defense has been exposed. Alou walks.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Rotblatt wrote: John Franco is the pitching coach for Italy! Who knew?

Do these teams really need pitching coaches? Their duties have to be pretty minimal, like counting pitches and dialing the bullpen.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Beltre with a pop up to center, and the next batter (missed who) ground out to short to end the inning.

Tough inning for Fiore.

So Fiore's not exactly a prospect--33 YO.

Career Minor League
1,105.1 IP, 3.62 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 5.97 K/9, 4.13 BB/9, 0.17 HR/9

MLB
37 IP, 4.39 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 5.58 K/9, 4.51 BB/9, 1.07 HR/9

[Guest Rotblatt]

Pascucci grounds out to third.
Saccomanno K's--apparently it was particularly ugly.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: ="Rotblatt"]John Franco is the pitching coach for Italy! Who knew? Do these teams really need pitching coaches? Their duties have to be pretty minimal, like counting pitches and dialing the bullpen.

I suppose technically they should be doing some of the scouting and figuring out the opponent's weaknesses, right?

[Guest Rotblatt]

Gregorio struck out looking.

2-1 Dominican heading into the top of the second.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'd imagine Italy needs a pitching coach more than most.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Pena with a single. Paulino grounds to Saccomono, who throws high to second, but they manage to turn the double play anyway.

Reyes swinging at the first pitch again to foul it off. Reyes swings at the second pitch too and grounds out to end the inning.

[Frayed Knot]

Q: Is Galante retarded for starting Reyes over Tejada?

[Guest Rotblatt]

Paulino's a 24 YO catcher who took a while getting out of A & then AA, but in his first crack at AAA last year, he did very well:

273 AB, .315 AVG/.372 OBP/.538 SLG/.910 OPS

Minor League Totals:
2228 AB, .279 AVG/.339 OBP/.432 SLG/.771 OPS

He got a cuppa last year and went 2-4 with a walk.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Frayed Knot wrote: Q: Is Galante retarded for starting Reyes over Tejada?

I guess Galante's doing the same think Team America did yesterday--giving the stars a rest.

Hopefully it won't come back to haunt them . . .

[Guest Rotblatt]

Giarratano with a one-out walk, then Menechino laces a ball to the wall for a double!

Game is tied 2-2!

[Guest Rotblatt]

Catalanotto with a line drive past a diving Alou! Catalanotto makes it to second and Menechino scores to give Italy the lead!

Piazza up.

[MFS62]

He can't bat cleanup for that club?

Later

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I find that I'm rooting against Italy, the home of my ancestors and the site of my best-ever vacation. The reason is because it's a team of ringers. I doubt that more than a handful of people back "home" in Florence or Naples is even aware that this series is being played.

Go Dominican Republic!

[Guest Rotblatt]

Piazza sounds totally out of his game. He swung at the first pitch and ground out to third. The announcers said he's pulling off the ball.

WP by Perez and Menechino moves to third.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Sinisi with a checked swing strikeout to end this half of the inning.

Dominican's had better break out that lumber. Note that Polanco is in there instead of Soriano--it's not just Tejada who's sitting out.

Fiore's got a killer HR/9 ratio--that'll come in handy against the DR.

I'm rooting for the DR too, Yance, but I really want Piazza to do well. Doesn't look promising on that front.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Polanco with a single, and Pujols crushes one! 4-3 Dominicans!

So much for the low HR/9!

[Guest Rotblatt]

Ortiz walks. Fiore's almost at his pitch limit with Alou at the plate.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Franco visits the mound and whatever he says works--double play to the shortstop.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Fiore hits Beltre with a pitch, and that's the end of the line for Fiore.

[MFS62]

Is he related to Mike Fiore, a first baseman who once played for the O's?

Later