USA 3, South Korea 1
Three US pitchers combined to hold South Korea to just one run on 4 hits this afternoon in World Cub/Pan Am tournament Second Round play. Matt Shoemaker (Angels) made the start for the US and hurled 5 shutout innings. He allowed just a double over the first 4 of those innings. In the 5th, with two outs, Shoemaker gave up a single and a walk, but ended the inning with a fly out.
Team USA got off to a solid start with a run in the top of the 1st. RF Brett Jackson (Cubs) opened the game with a single into left field, then stole second base. He scored on DH Joe Thurston’s (Marlins) RBI single into right. 3B Tommy Mendonca (Rangers) and CF Jordan Danks (White Sox) led off the top of the 2nd with back-to-back singles, moving Mendonca to third. 2B Andrew Garcia walked to load the bases with one out, then Jackson brought in Mendonca with a sacrifice fly.
That 2-0 lead lasted until the bottom of the 6th. Royce Ring (Red Sox) relieved Shoemaker to begin the inning. Ring faced just 2 batters, allowing a single and a double to put two Korean runners into scoring position. Ring was pulled in favor of Pete Andrelczyk (Marlins), who got the first batter he faced to ground out to first base — which allowed the runner from third to score, charged to Ring. The next batter grounded to short, where Pirates’ SS Jordy Mercer fired back to the plate, in time for C Tuffy Gosewisch (Phillies) to tag out the runner trying to score from third. Andrelczyk finished the 6th with a strikeout, and then pitched a scoreless bottom of the 7th, including a walk.
Team USA added one more run in the top of the 7th. AJ Pollock (Diamondbacks) singled into left, the moved to second base on Mercer’s grounder to short, ruled a fielder’s choice and an error on the Korean shortstop. Pollock scored on 1B Matt Clark’s (Padres) single into center field.
This was a 7-inning game because Team USA is playing a double-header today. The make-up game between the US and Venezuela will begin shortly.
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