Israel Blanks Brazil Behind Cardinals’ Baker

Corey Baker (Photo by Tomasso De Rosa)

SEE ALSO: WBC Rosters/Schedule

NEW YORK—Cardinals righthander Corey Baker combined with four relievers on a shutout as Israel beat Brazil 1-0 on Friday in the first game of a split doubleheader, part of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier at MCU Park in Brooklyn.

A day after scoring 10 runs against Pakistan in a game shortened by the WBC’s mercy rule, Hall of Famer Barry Larkin’s club was limited to just three hits in the loss.

With the win, Israel (2-0) will play next in the qualifier’s deciding game on Sunday. The outcome of that matchup will decide who heads to Seoul, South Korea, in March for the fourth installment of the global tournament.

“You play the game one pitch at a time. You play against the ball. You don’t worry about anything but your own locker room,” Israel manager and longtime Rockies coach Jerry Weinstein said after the crucial victory. “The enemy’s within. We just take care of ourselves and do what we can do and usually that’s good enough, especially when we have a group of high-caliber thoroughbred players like we do.”

Brazil (1-1) takes on either Great Britain or Pakistan on Saturday night to determine Israel’s opponent in the finale.

“We have to continue to pitch the way we’re pitching and then when we get opportunities to score runs we have to score runs,” Larkin said. “We misplayed a couple of balls that led to a run, the only run of the game, but our pitchers really stepped up and got it done.”

In a contest almost bereft of offense, minor league veteran Nate Freiman barreled up a double over the head of left fielder Irait Chirino to lead off the bottom of the fourth, one of only three hits for Israel. Former Mets and Yankees first baseman Ike Davis hit a hard grounder right at Yankees prospect Dante Bichette Jr. at first, who couldn’t field the ball cleanly on the synthetic turf and was charged with an error that allowed Freiman to advance to third.

Cody Decker, who had an RBI in Thursday night’s win over Great Britain, followed with a sacrifice fly to score the 6-foot-8 Freiman and give Israel a 1-0 lead.

Baker, drafted in the 49th round by St. Louis in 2011, was outstanding from the start. The 26-year-old, who began this season with Triple-A Memphis and finished with Double-A Springfield, retired nine in a row at one point and was only in trouble once across five scoreless innings.

“That’s the game I want to pitch. I want to keep the ball on the ground. I want to be efficient,” Baker said. “We stuck with the game plan and we just let the guys work behind us. We’ve got a good team behind us.”

Bichette Jr. walked, advanced to second on a groundout, and scampered to third on a two-out wild pitch in the fourth. After issuing a walk to Juan Carlos Muniz, Baker coerced a groundout from Dante’s brother Bo, one of the top prospects in the Gulf Coast League, to end the threat.

Baker (7.91 strikeouts per nine innings in 23 games for Springfield) struck out six, including the final three batters he faced (all swinging). The righthander was lifted in place of southpaw Jared Lakind (2.59 ERA in 47 games for Pittsburgh’s Double-A affiliate this season) after throwing 83 pitches, two short of the qualifying round’s single-game limit.

19-year-old Bo Takahashi, 6-4, 2.81 in 19 games (.223 opponent average) with three A-Level teams in the Diamondbacks system this year, was also effective. Signed by Arizona as an international free agent in 2013, the Brazilian-born righty held Israel to one run on two hits and one walk over four innings, striking out five.

“First and foremost I was fighting for my country and I do that with a lot of pride,” Takahashi said through a translator. “Unfortunately, today it wasn’t our day but we have to keep focused and fight for the next two games now.”

Lakind walked his first batter in the sixth, who was erased by a Leonardo Reginatto fielder’s choice. Reginatto, a shortstop in the Twins’ system who boasts a lofty 1.096 OPS in WBC play dating back to 2012, proceeded to steal second and third base. After Bichette Jr. walked, Lakind struck out Luis Paz and Muniz to strand runners at the corners.

“He is very solid in his approach. He keeps the bat head through the zone a long time. He’s got good balance. I keep telling him he’s gonna be a big leaguer,” Larkin said of the Brazilian native. “I think he’s got a bright future.”

With two-outs in the eighth, Reginatto (2-for-4) lined a single to center. Bichette Jr., on base three times, followed with a single that chased lefthander Jeremy Bleich, the Yankees’ supplemental first-rounder in 2008. Ryan Sherriff (2.84 ERA in 49 games for Triple-A Memphis this year) got pinch-hitter Reinaldo Sato to ground to third, where Decker lunged towards a sliding Reginatto rather than throwing across the diamond for the sure out. Israel’s gregarious third baseman applied the tag in time, ending Brazil’s last real hope to tie the game.

White Sox righthander Brad Goldberg hurled a perfect ninth for his second save in as many days.