Puerto Rico blanked
MIAMI — Despite a bungled replay review, the umps got the call right. Ramon Hernandez trotted home with a big run following a 10-minute delay, and now he and his Venezuela teammates are bound for Los Angeles and the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.
Hernandez was correctly awarded a home run Monday night when a call was reversed after the TV replay system failed, and Venezuela delighted a cacophonous crowd of 25,599 by beating Puerto Rico 2-0 to secure a spot in the final four.
“We pleased all of Venezuela,” manager Luis Sojo said. “We’re very happy.”
Puerto Rico lost for the first time in five WBC games and will face the United States tonight, with the loser eliminated and the winner advancing to the semifinals this weekend in Los Angeles. The game offers Team USA a chance to avenge an 11-1 loss to Puerto Rico on Saturday that triggered the mercy rule, ending the rout in the seventh inning.
“The United States is going to come ready,” Puerto Rican catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. “The 11-1 game is over. It was a great game for us, but (today) is a brand new 0-0 game.”
Rodriguez’s team never got on the board Monday. Felix Hernandez and four relievers combined on a five-hitter and stranded 10 runners against Puerto Rico, which came into the game batting .341.
Francisco Rodriguez retired all four batters he faced for his third save in the tournament.
Carlos Guillen singled home the first run in the third, and Ramon Hernandez doubled the margin in the seventh — but only after much confusion.
“I was thinking, ‘Why does it have to happen to me?”’ Ramon Hernandez said. “I hit the ball good, definitely nobody catches it, and it starts a big question if it’s a homer or not.”
Second-base umpire Mark Wegner ruled Hernandez’s long drive to left-center in play when the ball ricocheted back onto the field, and he sprinted to third base for an apparent leadoff triple. Replays clearly showed the ball clearing the scoreboard and bouncing off retracted bleachers.
“I knew it was a homer,” Puerto Rican center fielder Carlos Beltran said. “But I tried to play it like it wasn’t.”
As the Venezuelans protested the call, the umpires conferred. Three umps then went under the stands for what would have been the WBC’s first replay review, which is permitted on home run calls.
There was a glitch, however.
“They couldn’t get me the replay in the locker room,” crew chief Ed Rapuano said. “We couldn’t get the feed from New York.”
Because third-base umpire Hitoshi Watarida was certain the hit was a homer, the crew returned to the field and waved Hernandez home.
SAN DIEGO — Cuba will stick around the World Baseball Classic for at least one more game, thanks to Frederich Cepeda’s smoking-hot bat.Cepeda was 3-for-4 with a walk and four RBI, including a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning, in leading Cuba to a 7-4 win over Mexico Monday night in an elimination game.Cuba will play another elimination game Wednesday night against the loser of tonight’s game between Japan and South Korea. The Japan-South Korea winner qualifies for the semifinals at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
