SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Finally, Canada has a World Baseball Classic victory to complement its memorable upset of the United States at the inaugural tournament in 2006. And this win, at windswept Hiram Bithorn Stadium against a Cuban side more diva than dominant, also, finally, pushed them out of pool play at the event for the first time.
A quarterfinal date with the Pool B runner-ups in Houston awaits after a 7-2 triumph Wednesday afternoon secured not only a second-round berth, but also first place in Pool A.
Cal Quantrill shoved for five innings, allowing only an unearned run set up by his own errant pick-off throw, to set the tone while the Canadians matched Cuba’s early-contest gamesmanship to grind out some offence.
Otto Lopez’s two-run single capped a bizarre three-run sixth that gave Canada control of the contest, and they added on from there to ensure a drama-free finish. The toughest call they had to make was pulling James Paxton after 2.2 dominant innings with two outs and two strikes in the ninth to keep him eligible for the quarters because he was at 49 pitches.
Eric Cerantola got Omar Hernandez on a fly ball to left, Owen Caissie pumped his fist as the ball settled in his glove and the celebration was on.
The Canadians gathered in front of the dugout and saluted their fans in the stands, the demons of tournament’s past exorcised. In 2006, when they stunned the powerhouse Americans 8-6, they finished in a three-way tie atop their group but were bounced on a tiebreaker. They lost a win-and-in game to Mexico in that one, another to the Americans in 2013 and a third to Mexico again in 2023.
Justin Morneau lived through the first two as a player and the third as a fan before joining this team as hitting coach, and when he left his hotel room Wednesday morning, “I said to my wife, ‘Just please let me win.’”
“I’ve been let down so many times,” he continued. “We believe we’re one of the top-10 baseball countries in the world. Unfortunately, in this tournament, we haven’t advanced. We’ve done well in the Pan Ams, in a lot of different things. But I think we have a lot of guys that are hungry to do that, and a lot of guys are looking forward to doing it.”
They did it in an effort that featured some glamour but more grit, especially in the early going, when there was gamesmanship on both sides of the field in the battle for control.
Josh Naylor, the game’s second batter, twice stared down Livan Moinelo, who took the rubber before the batter had to be set in the box, leading to a pair of pitch-clock violations and the first of several visits to the umpires by manager German Mesa.
A delayed double-steal that ended with Lopez getting caught in a run-down between second and third resulted in an obstruction call that led to both batters being safe. Moinelo, the star NPB lefty, goaded Edoaurd Julien into a pitch-clock violation in the second and on it went.
Canada opened the scoring in the third on Owen Caissie’s sacrifice fly, set up by singles from Tyler O’Neill and Abraham Toro plus a passed ball, and went up 2-0 in the fifth when Toro sent a splitter from Yariel Rodriguez into the right-field seats.
The Cubans got one back in the bottom half on Quantrill’s error and Yoelkis Guibert’s run-scoring groundout, but then came the decisive sixth, when second baseman Yiddi Cappe dropped Matt Davidson’s infield pop-up, and the inning unravelled.
A wild pitch allowed Davidson to reach third, and after a Bo Naylor foul pop-up fell between two defenders, the Cleveland Guardians catcher ripped a double to right that brought him home. Denzel Clarke, flailing at what should have been strike three, reached on catcher’s interference and stole second before Lopez brought both home with a chopper through a drawn-in infield to make it 5-1.
The Cubans threatened again in the sixth, getting Ariel Martinez’s RBI single and loading the bases. But Adam Macko struck out Cappe to end the inning, and the Canadians added on from there.
Lopez cleverly scored from first in the eighth when Josh Naylor’s flare to left popped out of a sliding Martinez’s glove in left field, while Caissie cashed in another run in the ninth with a base hit.
Paxton and Cerantola then ripped through the frustrated Cubans in the bottom half to lock down one of Baseball Canada’s most meaningful wins.