Colombia meets China to close day two of Tucson’s World Baseball Classic Qualifier. In what will be the biggest mismatch in WBCQ history, Colombia will look to move ever so closer to a return to the World Baseball Classic.
Colombia opened the qualifier with a 5-0 win over Brazil. Julio Teherán was masterful, throwing six shutout innings and allowing just one hit. Reiver Sanmartín and Pedro García also went one inning and looked dominant. Offensively, Jesús Marriaga and Dilson Herrera led the Colombian lineup with two hits apiece.
Río Gómez will get the start for the Colombians. As a reliever, he had a 1.17 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 92.1 innings for the Wei Chuan Dragons of the CPBL in 2024.
China has not announced a starter but will not have Yanlun Zhang, who started yesterday. He went three innings and allowed four runs, two of which were earned, in their 12-2 loss to the Germans. They’re likely to go with pitchers who starred in the 2024 U23 World Cup.
China CF Pei Liang led the charge for China offensively against the Germans. He led the team with three hits. Catcher Ning Li had two hits, including an RBI single that tied it up at 2 in the third.
Prediction:
In a huge mismatch, expect Colombia to roll in this one with some fireworks offensively. 14-1 (7 innings) Colombia
