SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On the eve of Canada’s start of the World Baseball Classic, manager Ernie Whitt showed his love for Quebec pitcher Phillippe Aumont on the sidelines of his team’s practice Saturday.
“I really like this guy, he could be very useful to us at this tournament,” he said as the Canadian team trained at Salt River Fields at the Diamondbacks’ Talking Stick training complex.
Whitt also appreciated what he saw of Aumont on Thursday in a preseason game Canada lost 5-3 to the Seattle Mariners. He noticed his fastball was still going 92 mph. The 34-year-old Quebecer, who nonetheless retired from professional baseball three years ago, then faced four batsmen, didn’t give up a run and confined opponents to one base on walks.
Good performance from an experienced helper like Aumont will be crucial for the Canada team, who have a complicated schedule of four games in as many days.
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“It definitely makes a difference,” Whitt said of the disadvantageous schedule. With the restrictive rules on pitchers, it’s a difficult situation because we can’t burn the pitchers we want to use against Colombia and Mexico.”
With Cal Quantrill at the start of the game, Canada will first meet Great Britain on Sunday. After a seemingly uneven clash against the United States on Monday night, the Canadian team face an important game against Colombia on Tuesday before concluding against Mexico the next day.
Colombia defeats Mexico
The Colombian team also got off to a good start on Saturday, causing some upset at the end of the 10th inning with a 5-4 win over Mexico.
Photo Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
However, Los Angeles Dodgers’ superb pitcher Julio Urias was on the mound for Mexico. However, he allowed three runs in five sets, all of which were well deserved. Colombian Reynaldo Rodriguez, a 36-year veteran, had three hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Jorge Alafo scored the winning run at the top of 10th place by capitalizing on a defensive error by Mexican shortstop Luis Urias. The representatives of Mexico, for their part, failed to score in batting, the victory was signed by substitute Guillermo Zuniga.