2017 World Baseball Classic – Pool E

Pool E of the Second Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, a quarter-final round in the tournament, was held at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, from March 12 to 15, 2017.

The round was between Team Israel (won Pool A; ranked 41st in the world), Team Japan (won Pool B; ranked 1st in the world), Team Cuba (second in Pool B; ranked 5th in the world), and the Netherlands (second in Pool A; ranked 9th in the world). Pool E was a round-robin tournament. Each team played the other three teams once, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.

Undefeated Japan (3−0) and the Netherlands (2−1) advanced to the semi-final round, as Israel (1−2) came in third in the pool, and Cuba (0−3) came in fourth.

NOTE: Tiebreaker notes: HTH − Head-to-head. RA − Runs against. IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD. TG − Tiebreaker game.

Pool E MVP: Wladimir Balentien

In the first game of the second round, Team Israel, undefeated in the first round, beat Team Cuba (5th-ranked in the world) by a score of 4−1. Former Major Leaguer Jason Marquis (in 5.2 innings on three days' rest) and three Team Israel relief pitchers (including Brad Goldberg and Josh Zeid, who both threw 96 mph fastballs) kept Team Cuba to five hits and one run, a homer by Cuban star Alfredo Despaigne who became the all-time World Baseball Classic home run leader. Pool A MVP catcher Ryan Lavarnway had two hits for Israel.

...
Wikipedia