Team USA starting pitcher Philip Pfeifer (Knoxville, Tenn.) threw seven scoreless innings in front of a defense that turned four double-plays and refused to allow Cuba a run until the final inning. Connor Mason (Suwanee, Ga.) got the victory and Bryce Harper (Las Vegas, Nev.) earned the save in front of a raucous crowd at Estadio Beto Avila.
Pfeifer scattered eight hits and walked four while striking out five Cubans in seven innings of work. Cuban starter Omar Luis worked eight shutout innings, allowing only three hits while striking out six. Mason received the win, but not before issuing five walks in three innings of relief. He struck out one Cuban and allowed no hits in the Team USA victory.
Tony Wolters (Vista, Calif.) was the only baserunner for Team USA in the first inning. He reached base with a leadoff walk by Luis to begin the game. After a Marcus Littlewood (St. George, Utah) strike out and Harper fly out to center field, Wolters was thrown out by Cuban catcher Javier Fuste to end the top half of the first inning. Pfeifer struck out two of the first three Cubans he faced in the bottom half of the first before forcing Fuste to fly out to right field to end the inning.
Christian Lopes (Canyon Country, Calif.) recorded the first of his two hits on the night in the top of the second inning before a Nicky Delmonico (Knoxville, Tenn.) fly out to left field ended the top of the second. Cuban third baseman Jorge Soler led off the home half of the second inning with a double to left center field. After a Yosvani Penaluer ground out and a walk by Gelkis Jimenez, Team USA turned its first of four double-plays on the night, forcing Luis to hit into the 1-6-3 double-play, ending the Cuban threat.
It was more of the same in the bottom of the third inning when, after a leadoff walk was issued by Pfeifer to Yamil Rivalta, Lazaro Ramirez grounded into the 4-6-3 double-play. Cuba starting shortstop Yasiel Ajete then singled to left field and was thrown out at third base by Team USA center fielder Michael Lorenzen (Anaheim, Calif.) when Guillermo Aviles singled to center field and Ajete mistakenly tried to reach third on the play.
After a two-out single to center field by Ajete in the fifth inning, Wolters made a spectacular diving grab on an Aviles ground ball in the gap between first and second, throwing the ball to first to get the out and end the inning.
Team USA came close to getting on the scoreboard first in the top of the sixth inning when Lorenzen led off with a walk and advanced to third on a Pfeifer sacrifice bunt and a Wolters ground out to first base. Littlewood then popped up to second base, ending the top half of the inning and the Team USA threat.
Cuba hit into its third double-play of the evening in the bottom of the sixth. After Fuste reached first base on a dribbler to the third-base side of the infield, Soler flied out to right before Penaluer hit into the 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Team USA catcher Ladson Montgomery (Jacksonville, Fla.) threw a bullet to second to catch Jimenez, who had led off the inning with a single.
The game remained scoreless heading into the bottom of the ninth with Cuba threatening to score once again and end the game. Mason walked both Soler and Penaluer to leadoff the inning before striking out Jimenez. After issuing a walk to new Cuban pitcher Hansel Delgado, Soler was tagged out in a run down by Team USA third baseman Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove, Calif.) during a botched squeeze play by the Cubans. After a walk to Rivalta loaded the bases once again, Ramirez grounded out to end the inning and Cuba's greatest scoring chance of the night until the 11th.
With the score still knotted at 0-0 entering the 11th inning, the new extra-inning rule for international competition went into effect. The rule states that the teams must place runners on first and second base with no outs, and the runners can come from any part in the lineup. In the top of the 11th, Team USA elected to place Mason on second base and Wolters on first base. Littlewood was hit by a Delgado offering and took first base to load the bases. Harper drew a walk, scoring Mason to give Team USA a 1-0 lead. A passed ball scored Wolters and a wild pitch by Delgado a few pitches later scored Littlewood, making it 3-0. A Rodriguez fly out to center field and a Montgomery strikeout brought the game into the bottom of the eleventh with Team USA staked to a 3-0 advantage.
Harper came on in the eleventh in the save opportunity. The Cubans elected to put Rivalta at second base and Ramirez at first. After a slow grounder was hit by Ajete to the mound, Harper threw the ball over Delmonico's glove at first base, allowing Rivalta to score from second. That would be all the Cubans could muster as Harper retired three of the next four batters he faced to earn the save.
With the win, Team USA moves to 2-0 with six games remaining in Veracruz. Next on the schedule for Team USA is a game against Puerto Rico at 2:00 p.m. ET on Monday in Veracruz.
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