Netherlands hands Israel its 1st loss at WBC
Venezuela reaches 2nd round by beating Italy
Didi Gregorius drove in five runs Monday to lead the Netherlands over Israel 12-2 and hand the tournament debutants their first loss of the World Baseball Classic.
Gregorius doubled in a run in the third when the Netherlands scored four to take a 6-0 lead. The designated hitter then hit a three-run homer in the fourth to make it 10-0.
Gregorius also drove in a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly when the Netherlands added two more runs. The game was called after eight innings under the 10-run mercy rule.
Israel beat the Netherlands 4-2 in the first round in Seoul but saw a different team on Monday at Tokyo Dome. Jair Jurrjens picked up the win after striking out five and holding Israel to one run on five hits over six innings.
"We lost to Israel in the first round so we wanted to make sure we made no mistakes in today's game with pitching, offence and defence," Netherlands manager Hensley Meulens said. "J.J. did a great job holding them and we were able to score some big runs early."
Wladimir Balentien, who plays in Japan, also had a big night at the plate, driving in three runs.
Israel surprised many by winning its first four games of the tournament but was overpowered by the Netherlands, which lost 8-6 in 11 innings to Japan on Sunday.
Israel starter Corey Baker took the loss after giving up four runs on three hits over two innings.
The Netherlands and Israel are both 1-1 in Pool E. The top two teams advance to the March 20-22 championship round in Los Angeles.
Israel's next game is against Japan (1-0) on Wednesday, while the Netherlands faces Cuba.
Venezuela advances
Miguel Cabrera hit a solo homer and Rougned Odor had a long RBI single during a three-run ninth inning and Venezuela rallied to beat Italy 4-3 on Monday night to qualify for the second round.
Cabrera blasted a shot over center field to tie it at 2 and then Odor smacked his single to put Venezuela ahead. Odor later scored on a sacrifice bunt by Alcides Escobar.
Venezuela will face the United States on Wednesday in San Diego.
The Venezuelans advanced despite allowing 35 runs in the first round, the third highest mark in the history of the tournament. South Africa and China allowed 38 each in 2006.
Venezuela joined Puerto Rico as the two teams that moved on from Group D.
Italy got a solo homer from Alex Liddi in the bottom of the ninth, but Francisco Rodriguez then got three ground outs for the save. Italy finished 1-3 in the tournament.