China lost to Cuba 12-0 in the World Baseball Classic Monday, and you could tell things were not going their way early in the game.
During the top of the second inning, China first baseman Fujia Chu successfully stole second base. Cuban catcher Eriel Sanchez lost the ball as he was trying to transfer the ball from his glove to his hand to make the throw to second. When he looked back to the plate after reaching second, Chu must have seen the ball on the ground and figured there was a foul tip. He started slowly jogging back to first, and then got tagged out in a rundown after Cuba noticed his mistake.
We saw this happen last year in a Phillies-Mets game and figured that Jimmy Rollins had tricked Josh Thole. We have no idea whether Chu was tricked or just assumed there was a foul ball. Either way, it was an embarrassing play during what turned out to be an embarrassing game. Yes, the game was called after seven innings because of the mercy rule. I didn’t even know they had that beyond high school.
Forearm bash to Big League Stew
