U.S. hopes still alive
Team USA still has a chance in the World Baseball Classic thanks to South Korea.
Chan Ho Park and four relievers combined to pitch a six-hitter, Jong Beom Lee hit a two-run double in the eighth, and South Korea beat Japan 2-1 Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., to clinch a berth in the semifinals of the inaugural WBC.
The Americans, who would have been eliminated with a low-scoring win by Japan, can wrap up the other semifinal berth in Group One with Roger Clemens on the mound by beating Mexico today.
“I’ll tell you what, I don’t know that I’ve ever been as nervous watching a baseball game as I was in this one,” Team USA manager Buck Martinez said minutes after South Korea’s win. “What a great game that was.
“It’s a big relief, obviously. We were all very anxious for this game tonight. Japan is a very good baseball team.”
South Korea went 3-0 in Round 2; the United States is 1-1, Japan finished 1-2, and Mexico is 0-2. The Americans beat Mexico 2-0 in the first round last week.
The U.S. team will be without two of its top offensive threats when it meets Mexico.
Derrek Lee, tied for the team lead with three home runs and second in RBIs with eight, is out with a bruised shoulder while center fielder Johnny Damon could be limited to pinch-running duties because of tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.
• Cuba had two close calls go against it late in the game and still held on for a 4-3 victory over Puerto Rico in San Juan to advance to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.
Ormari Romero allowed one run in four innings for Cuba (2-1), which will play the Dominican Republic in the single-elimination semifinal game on Saturday in San Diego.
Bonds, Martinez impress
Barry Bonds looks ready for the regular season.
Nine at-bats into spring training, Bonds has shown the San Francisco Giants have nothing to worry about when it comes to his swing.
Now, it’s just a question of whether his surgically repaired right knee is ready for the daily rigors of playing the outfield.
Bonds, in the lineup on consecutive days for the first time this spring, homered for the second day in a row and made a brief appearance in left field during San Francisco’s 10-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Despite being slowed by his knee and hounded by allegations of steroid use in two upcoming books, Bonds is in midseason form at the plate. He is 7 for 9 with three homers and a double in four games.
At Port St. Lucie, Fla., meanwhile, Pedro Martinez faced hitters for the first time this spring, throwing 61 pitches to two New York Mets minor leaguers and showing no ill effects from a toe problem.
The ace has been limited this spring by damaged cartilage in his right toe. The Mets still hope he’ll be able to start on opening day.
Gooden faces jail sentence
Former baseball star Dwight Gooden was ordered held without bond and faces up to five years in prison for violating the terms of his probation.
Gooden will appear in court for a hearing sometime in the next two weeks, prosecutor Pam Bondi said.
The 41-year-old Gooden pleaded guilty in November to speeding away from police after a DUI traffic stop in August 2005 and was sentenced to three years’ probation. On Tuesday, he went to a regular meeting with a probation officer where he admitted to using cocaine, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.