Team USA falls to Venezuela
TORONTO — Maybe the outcome meant a little more to Venezuela than it did to the United States. Or perhaps Team USA decided not to take its best shot, opting to wait for the World Baseball Classic to shift to South Florida.
Whatever the case, Venezuela emerged with a 5-3 victory over the U.S. team Wednesday in what amounted to little more than a leisurely tune-up for the second round that starts Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.
Win or lose, both teams had qualified for the next round. The only significance contained in Wednesday's outcome was tied to first-round pairings. Venezuela will face the Netherlands and Team USA will take on Puerto Rico when the tournament resumes.
"I think Venezuela was always waiting for this win after they clobbered us," said Venezuela manager Luis Sojo, referring to a 15-6 drubbing Team USA put on Venezuela Sunday.
The same two teams could hook up again in South Florida. But it was obvious Team USA manager Davey Johnson was using Wednesday's contest to find playing time for his pitchers, a couple of whom had not thrown in either of the first two games.
One of those, Ted Lilly, started and gave up one run over three innings.
The other, Jeremy Guthrie, gave up four runs and seven hits over two innings and remained on the mound longer than he would have under normal circumstances.
"We had a bunch of guys that needed work," Johnson said. "It was a day to get some work in, get some at-bats, and get some innings in. It's not a big deal, win or lose. We still got to win two games in Miami. It doesn't matter whether we're the one seed or the two seed."
