Brazil was GB’s opponent in today’s must-win game. And on the mound was their one fully rested player, Brendan Beck.
Brendan Beck started by hitting Lucas Ramirez on the hand. Not the best start for GB. Brazil showed their Japanese heritage when it comes to baseball, and immediately sac bunted Ramirez to second. Beck then walked Osavaldo Carvalho on four pitches and was maybe looking a bit rocky, but he rebounded, getting Leonardo Reginatto to strike out, and Victor Mascai hit a grounder right back to him. Beck took it cleanly and walked over to first for the short toss to put the first beautiful 0 up on the scoreboard.
Nate Eaton led off once again for GB. He hit a high pop-up, which was taken well by Brazil’s first baseman Carvalho. Ford was batting in the two spot today and worked a full count off Enzo Sawayama before striking out, and Jazz quickly followed him back into the dugout. He hit a high pop-up to Mascai in left field. GB went 1-2-3, not the best of starts.
So, the first inning was scratched off, and this became an eight-inning game. Beck got Lucas to ground out quickly, and Hayashida knocked one simply back to him. With just four pitches thrown, Beck had two outs; he needed four more to get Gabriel Maciel to ground out to Jazz. A great eight-pitch inning for Beck.
B.J. Murray continued in the four slot, but he struggled to replicate the form we saw in the warm-up games, grounding out to Reginatto at third. Ivan Johnson became GB’s first baserunner after drawing a walk. Matt Koperniak, in the designated hitter role once again, entered the lefty batter’s box and, after fouling a few off, he managed to slap one into the outfield for a single.
Brazil had a mound visit before Ian Lewis Jr stepped up, but only managed to move one runner over, grounding to first baseman Carvalho, who got the out at second. The base runners were left stranded when Trayce Thompson hit a massive flyout to left field.
The second inning was scratched off as well. On to the third. Beck started slowly with three balls before a couple of strikes. Gabriel Carmo then grounded out. Up came Brazil’s talisman, Ramirez. He showed no signs of discomfort following his HBP earlier on, but like others today, he flew out on a high ball to Lewis Jr. in left.
Ito went down swinging. Beck had thrown just 36 pitches for those three innings, which meant he still had plenty in the tank for GB.
Late squad addition Wallace Clark led off the third and struck out on foul tip. And Sawayama was able to strike Eaton out as well. His battery of four pitches was really messing with the GB hitters. Ford stepped up and hit a simple flyout to centre.
Third inning scratched off, no runs scored. Six innings to do something. The efficient Beck continued in imperious fashion, striking out Carvalho on four pitches. Reginatto walked – one of the called balls would definitely have been challenged in MLB this year, but in the WBC, Beck didn’t have the opportunity.
Beck had thrown three to Mascai before Ford came out to meet him, to maybe work on a game plan. Couldn’t get Mascai to chase the slider, but blew one past him, and after a foul and a few pick off throws, the at-bat ended with a strike ‘em out, thrown ‘em out. That left Beck on 53 pitches, and GB had the chance of one more inning out of him.
Everything was going right with the ball, but they needed something to happen with the bats. Jazz was the first man up to the plate. He earned himself a 3-1 count before hitting a high-fly to right field. Bazza was up next, and he provided the spark GB needed, with a double down the right field line.
Brazil had another mound visit, but didn’t remove Sawayama. Johnson stepped up, and after a missed bunt on the first pitch, he hit a grounder on the first base side that advanced the runner and brought up Koperniak with two outs. But Matt couldn’t give GB the lift; another flyout ended GB’s inning.
GB blinked first when it came to pitching, and out came Gary Gill Hill. That meant they needed five innings from the bullpen. Rojo hit a weak grounder that Gill Hill fielded cleanly, then slightly better contact from Hayashida went straight to Jazz, and GB had two quick outs. But this inning wasn’t a clean one as Maciel got plunked with the next pitch, and a double from Carmo meant Brazil took the lead.
The hit stayed just fair, and a funky bounce off the scoreboard on the wall helped, but Brazil got that important first run in. Ramirez stepped up ready to try and blow this one open, but Gill Hill got him to chase a changeup, and GB gave up just one run. That was the first time they gave up just one run, having given up two plus every time they’d allowed one in the previous three games.
Brazil forced their bullpen as well, bringing in Tiago Da Silva. Ian Lewis Jr. levelled the game up, going deep on the first pitch. Da Silva put one 88mph down the middle, and Lewis Jr knocked it back at 102mph.
Thompson had a long battle, which ended in a walk. Clark was up next to bat, and he squared up to bunt but pulled it back. It was called a strike anyway; he then fouled a few off before lining out sharply to Ito at short.
Eaton continued his good form and poked one through the infield to advance Trayce. On the second pitch, they executed a perfect double steal, and Harry capitalised with a single to give GB the lead.
That was it for Da Silva, who was replaced by Hector Villarroel. He had the task of shutting this GB rally down, and to do that, he had to deal with Jazz first. Jazz hit a grounder to second, but his speed meant that there was no chance for a double play, and GB scored their third run. Murray grounded to shortstop Ito to end the inning and keep the damage at three runs.
GB now had a lead to work with. Gill Hill returned for the sixth. GB were just 12 outs away from winning, and in an ideal world, it would probably be Gill Hill, Ryan Long, Najer Victor and Tristan Beck for all of these outs.
Gill Hill continued with his strong defensive performance, fielding the bunt from Ito. Before striking out Carvalho, and getting Reginatto to line out to Ian Lewis Jr. Great 1-2-3 inning.
It looked like it might be all falling apart for Brazil when second baseman Rojo duffed an easy play to let Johnson get on base. Johnson stole second during the next at-bat before Koperniak grounded out to Rojo. That advanced Johnson to third and gave GB the chance for another safety run.
Lewis Jr. grounded out, but Johnson got a great jump on the play and was never even an option for the defender. A beautifully manufactured run from GB after the error.
Thompson walked, and Brazil made a mistake. The catcher who came out for the visit didn’t realise that they used up all their mound visits, which forced Brazil into a pitching change. In came the 17-year-old Joseph Contreras. After getting Judge to ground out into a double play in his first game, he was looking for some more routine stuff to get out of this inning.
Clark was his competition, and he walked him on five pitches, which brought up Nate Eaton. He struck out looking on a high strike, which he would have been head-tapping during the regular season. GB added a safety run to go 4-1 up.
The first of my three predicted pitchers came in with Ryan Long taking the ball for the 7th. He got Mascai to swing at a cutter for the first K. Then got a routine grounder from Rojo to third before blowing one past Hayashida for the third out. GB needed just six more to win the game.
Contreras stayed on the mound and struck out Ford on a high changeup. Jazz singled with a line drive, but then was caught stealing second after overshooting the bag after being clearly safe. B.J. Murray then walked to keep the inning going and stole second during Johnson’s at-bat. Johnson AB was a long one, finally reaching base on a ninth-pitch ball.
Koperniak hit a blooper that centre fielder Maciel couldn’t quite get to, and GB tacked on two more runs to lead 6-1. Lewis Jr. quickly lined out to Ramirez in right field to end the inning.
This game was progressing like the reverse of all their other games, much to the enjoyment of the GB fans in Houston.
My prediction was right once again with Najer Victor coming out for GB. The inning started with an automatic ball as there was a pitch timer violation. Harry Ford seemed very pissed at this, and Brad Marcelino had to come out to calm things down. Victor got Maciel to fly out to Lewis Jr., so it all was a wash.
He then got Carmo to strike out looking at a slider, and up stepped Lucas Ramirez. The talisman had been left quiet in the game, and he was given no chance against Victor. A four-pitch walk gave him first very quickly because up to bat next was Ito, who hadn’t looked competitive at all so far. He didn’t in this AB either, going down on three quick strikes. GB three outs away.
They had a chance to end it without pitching again if they could put up five runs. Trayce led off with a walk, and Clark was intentionally walked after a passed ball moved Trayce to second. Eaton struck out chasing a high-and-in fastball, then Harry walked to load the bases. Jazz singled to plate two more.
That meant B.J. Murray had a chance to walk it off, but he grounded into a double play. GB had seven runs to play with, and Tristan Beck came in to finish what his brother started.
Tristan got Carvalho to strike out on a foul tip. Reginatto hit a weak grounder, and pinch-hitter Matheus Silva popped out to B.J. Murray.
And just like that, GB won and qualified for the next tournament.
This is massive for the national team; the way sport in the UK gets funded means this repeatability is huge. The next major stage is the Premier 12 Qualifiers at the end of the year. And discussions on that will continue in time, but right now, let’s soak up the win and enjoy that we will get to do this all again in a few years’ time.
Featured image of Jazz Chisholm and Brad Marcelino embracing by Rob T.ringali/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images.
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