Canada to miss Olympics after heartbreaking loss to Dominican Republic
Ontario Blue Jays alum Daniel Pinero went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs for Canada on Saturday in their 6-5 loss to the Dominican Republic in the Super Round of the Americas Olympic qualifier in St. Lucie, Fla. Photo: Baseball Canada/Twitter
June 5, 2021
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
There was not a bat flip at Clover Park in St. Lucie, Fla., on Saturday afternoon, but the Dominican Republic didn’t need one from Jose Bautista in their come-from-behind 6-5 win over Canada in their final Super Round game of the Americas Olympic qualifier.
It was top Seattle Mariners prospect Julio Rodriguez, who’s half Bautista’s age, and was hitting one spot ahead of the ex-Blue Jays slugger, who came through with a clutch two-out single off Canadian closer John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) in the eighth inning to plate the winning run.
“You can sure say that this is the biggest hit of my career,” said Rodriguez in a post-game press conference. “It definitely felt different and that’s what I’ve been saying the whole time. Representing my country is the most special baseball I’ve ever played in my life . . . It’s a different feeling and I have never experienced it before. And I’m so happy.”
Just how much of a threat was the young Rodriguez in the tournament?
Well, Canadian manager Ernie Whitt opted to walk Rodriguez, who finished the tourney 11-for-24 (.458 batting average), in the fourth inning to pitch to Bautista.
With the loss, Canada concludes the Super Round with an 0-3 record and will not be headed to the Olympics in Tokyo this summer.
“Needless to say, we’re disappointed,” said Whitt following the game. “But I’ll also say this: I’m very proud of all of the guys and the effort they put forth. We left everything on the field and that’s something that Team Canada has always done. I know that’s all we ask is for them to come give us their best and if we fall short then that’s the way it was meant to be.”
Canada’s offence was led by shortstop Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.), who after a day off on Friday, went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.
Left-hander Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.), who after no-hitting Colombia for seven innings in the tournament’s first game, got the start and gutted out four innings on Saturday, allowing three runs on seven hits.
It was Canada who got on the scoreboard first on Saturday, tallying three runs with two outs off 43-year-old left-hander Raul Valdes in the first inning. Third baseman Eric Wood (Oshawa, Ont.) started the rally with a triple to left-centre and Connor Panas (Etobicoke, Ont.) followed with a single to drive him in. Pinero then belted a two-run home run to left field to put his team up 3-0.
But the Dominican squad responded in the second inning when shortstop Jeison Guzman singled with two outs to score centre fielder Luis Liberato who had reached on an infield single.
The Dominican offence struck again in the third when former Blue Jay Melky Cabrera and Rodriguez hit back-to-back singles to open the inning. Bautista then grounded out to third but the runners advanced to second and third before another ex-Jay, Juan Francisco, scorched a single to right field off Albers that plated two to tie the game 3-3.
Two innings later, with Dustin Molleken (Regina, Sask.) in for Albers, the Dominicans took the lead when catcher Charlie Valerio smashed a solo home run to put his club ahead 4-3.
But in the sixth inning, Pinero would go deep off Valdes for a second time to tie the game. And two innings later, the 27-year-old shortstop and Ontario Blue Jays alum would put Canada ahead 5-4, when he knocked in Wood, who had singled..
After a three-up, three-down seventh, lefty Evan Rutckyj (Windsor, Ont.) started the eighth and surrendered a single to Liberato before being replaced by Scott Mathieson (Aldergrove, B.C.). The veteran right-hander proceeded to retire the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Valerio and then strike out Guzman, but a passed ball by catcher Kellin Deglan (Langley, B.C.) allowed Valerio to advance to second. Second baseman Gustavo Nunez then tied the game with a two-out single. Mathieson then walked Cabrera, putting runners on first and second. Axford was summoned from the bullpen and he allowed the single to Rodriguez that gave the Dominican squad a 6-5 lead.
Veteran right-hander Jairo Asencio came in in the ninth for the Dominican Republic and struck out Deglan, Jesse Hodges (Victoria, B.C.) and Tyson Gillies (Vancouver, B.C.) in order, to nail down the win.
With the victory, the Dominican team has secured at the very least a spot at the last chance Olympic qualifying tournament that will take place in Puebla, Mexico from June 22 to 26, but they could still qualify for the Olympics tonight depending on the outcome of the U.S. vs Venezuela game.
For Canada, the defeat likely spelled the end of the international careers of mainstays like Mathieson and Scott Richmond (Vancouver, B.C.) who are 37 and 41 respectively. Albers, Axford, Chris Leroux (Mississauga, Ont.), Molleken and infielder Jonathan Malo (Joliette, Que.) are also all 35 or older
“I’m sad for some of the players,” said Whitt after the game, “because we literally pulled some guys off their couches to come and compete in this and what they did, not only did they compete and give it their all, they hung out with the young guys and they [the young players] saw what it’s like, what we do with this organization when we go into a competition and I think that’s the whole purpose of having a good mixture of veterans and younger players.”
Pinero, too, was sad that this might represent the final tournament for some of the veterans.
“Those veteran guys, they’re our leaders,” said Pinero. “They’re all leaders and I know this might be their last time pitching on a big stage like this and I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me and all of the younger guys on this team.”
At the same time, Pinero and Whitt are excited about the young core of the Canadian squad going forward. Players like Pinero and Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) had standout tournaments and young pitchers like Trevor Brigden (North York, Ont.) and Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, Man.) looked solid on the mound.
“We might not be the most talented team on the field all the time, but we definitely work our butts off and we compete. That’s what we do and that’s what Team Canada does,” said Pinero. “I’m just excited for the future . . . I think we’ve got a bright future ahead of us.”
Whitt offered a similar assessment.
“I feel that we do have a great core of young players,” he said. “I’m really glad that they were able to experience this and what we do the Canadian way – how we compete, how we give everything we’ve got once we get on the field and how we come together as a team and an organization when we’re off the field. So I’m extremely happy with that.”
Durable Deglan
Deglan caught every inning in all five games in the tournament, including twice starting a day game after a night game, something that’s almost unheard of in the pro ranks these days.
“I’m very proud of him. He did a nice job handling our pitching staff,” said Whitt, a longtime former catcher himself.
Reliable Rutckyj
How’s this for an assignment? Rutckyj was called into a must-win Olympic qualifying game in the seventh inning on Saturday and the first batter he faces is Jose Bautista. He got Bautista to ground out. The second batter he faces is Juan Francisco, who’s leading the tournament with four home runs. He struck Francisco out. He then retired Diego Goris on ground out to shortstop to end the inning. That’s an impressive inning of work.
Wood injures hamstring
Wood, who had a triple, a single and two runs in the game, injured his hamstring when sprinting to score Canada’s fifth run in the top of the eighth.
“He tweaked his hamstring,” said Whitt about Wood after the game. “And again, there’s a guy who hasn’t played in a couple of years and we bring him off the couch. And then you see him at the end of the game, laying on home plate and giving it his all for that go-ahead run at that time, so he’s pretty sore right now. But again, he’s part of that Canadian mentality that we have. He said he could go back out and play and do the best he could, but it was my choice to remove him, but he wanted to stay in.”
Whitt sent Malo into replace Wood.
Former Blue Jays on Dominican team
Three of the first four batters in the Dominican lineup on Saturday were ex-Toronto Blue Jays: Cabrera (leadoff), Bautista (third) and Francisco (fourth). Valdes who started and pitched seven innings, also spent a season in the Blue Jays’ organization in 2014, going 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 23 appearances for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons. They also had former Jay Emilio Bonifacio on the bench.