TAICHUNG, Taiwan — Cuba regained its best version of the season in the World Baseball Classic and now heads to Japan for the quarterfinals.
With home runs by Yoán Moncada and Erisbel Arruebarrena, the Cuban team defeated host Taiwan 7-1 on Sunday to claim first place in group A of the tournament.
Five key teams with identical 2-2 records were drawn, and the tie-breaking criteria determined the qualification for the next round. Italy got the other ticket, with a 7-1 triumph over Belgium the day before Kal. The Netherlands, Panama and Taiwan said goodbye.
Italy had to wait a few minutes after the last time to be sure they qualified.
The group was defined with the formula of runs allowed and divided indicates. Cuba (15/108, .139) was in the lead, followed by Italy (17/108, .157), the Netherlands (19/102, .186), Panama (21/105, .200) and Taiwan (31. /105, .295).
Earlier in the day, Cuba opened a 4-0 lead in the first inning on a double by Alfredo Despaigne and Luis Robert Jr., his Chicago White Sox teammate. Arruebarrena made it 4-0 later that inning with a two-run homer. Moncada disappeared in the second event.
Cuban starter Elian Leyva earned the victory by going two and a third innings, allowing no hits and striking out four.
“The game was difficult, in front of an audience that supported their team all the time and with the demand that we could do as little as possible,” Cuban manager Armando Johnson said.
Cuba, the three-time Olympic champion, seemed desperate after starting its fifth participation in the Classic in consecutive attempts in Belgium and Italy.
Johnson called for patience to get hitters back into the game. That happened in the last two games, starting with a 13-4 thrashing of Panama.
“We’ve always said that the team will eventually respond,” Johnson said.
“We told the athletes, as a result of the competition, they will do better,” Johnson added. “This is how it happened, they went from less to more. They put hope. And now they are dancing there.”
