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Diaranson 4 augustus 2021

Bautista's hit, and bat flip, helps Dominicans oust Israel

ses led off the ninth with a shot that (2-1) just 14 hours later on Wednes- Weiss, a 29-year-old right-hander,
nearly cleared the left-field seats and day. Under the double-elimination made his only big league appearance
left the ballpark, the fourth homer of format, the winner of that game will for Cincinnati in 2018. He finished
the Olympics allowed by Weiss. play for a gold medal game berth with a 9.00 ERA.
against the loser of Wednesday night’s
Melky Cabrera singled, Roldani Japan-South Korea semifinal. Israel hit .232, topping the Domini-
Baldwin sacrificed pinch-runner Ye- cans’ .230 and Mexico’s .200, but its
fri Pérez to second, Guzman was in- Israel (1-4), in its first Olympic base- 6.49 ERA was better than only Mex-
tentionally walked and D.J. Sharabi ball tournament, had knocked out ico’s 6.92.
relieved. Mexico. The Isrealis had former ma-
jor leaguers in Kinsler and Valencia “I want everybody to just see where
Gustavo Núñez grounded into a and even one with a few at-bats this Israel baseball has come from and
forceout that left runners at the cor- season in catcher Ryan Lavarnway. where it is now,” Holtz said. “We
ners, bringing up Bautista. The six- While not from Israel, they joined the were one inning away from upset-
time All-Star had been left out of the team because of their Jewish back- ting the Dominican Republic. People
starting lineup by manager Hector grounds. need to see that and hear that. And if
Borg after going 0 for 8, then entered we can work and build off that mo-
(AP) — José Bautista had just got- in the fourth inning after Emilio But the team’s pitching was in key in- ment and continue to grow and in-
ten his first Olympic hit, extend- Bonifacio injured a hamstring. nings, to use a Yiddish phrase, “gour- spire Israelis in Israel to play baseball,
ing the Dominican Republic’s nisht tzu helfen” — nothing will help then we’re doing our job, and we did
tournament with a walkoff single Bautista had walked and flied out be- you. our job well.”
that capped a ninth-inning rally fore batting in a key spot nearly three
and eliminated surprising Israel. years after his last big league plate ap- Bonifacio led off the game with a Lavarnway hit .350 with two homers
pearance. bunt that popped over third base- and three RBIs.
Of course, that bat was going to get man Ty Kelly into short left field,
flipped. With three infielders on the left side, and Bonifacio slid headfirst into third Kinsler batted .222 with three RBIs.
Bautista took a 1-2 breaking ball that when Burcham heaved the ball into The 39-year-old, a four-time All-Star,
“It’s part of this New Age baseball just missed the outside corner, then right field for an error. sounded exhausted.
thing that’s happening,” the 40-year- reached out and grounded another
old said after Tuesday night’s 7-6 curve that was way outside. The ball Christopher Mercedes, who pitches “I’d like to stay involved in some ca-
victory. “It started in winter ball a bounced between second baseman for the Central League’s Yomiuri Gi- pacity. I’m not sure what it is right
few years ago. It’s just kind of giving Ian Kinsler, shifted to the left side of ants, was given a 2-0 lead and held now,” he said. “There’s no chance
a little bit of your own flavor to the second, and shortstop Scotty Bur- Israel hitless for 4 1/3 inning. But he of me playing. I feel like I have two
game, a little bit of celebrating the ex- cham, and into left field for a single. was hit hard in the fifth and was hurt bricks tied to my both my feet.”
citement of getting a hit.” when Guzman misplayed a grounder
Bautista took two steps toward first to shortstop for an error. Glasser, a 31-year-old right fielder
And what excitement. and gave the bat a gentle end-over- who plays for an independant team
end toss — just two full rotations, Mitch Glasser tied the score with a in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, batted a
Israel overcame a 2-0 fifth-inning nothing like the epic flip that fol- two-run double, and Burcham and team-best .412 with four RBIs.
deficit, wasted a 4-2, sixth-inning lowed his three-run homer for To- Kinsler had RBI singles. Israel could
lead, fell behind 5-4 when Jeison ronto off Texas’ Sam Dyson in Game have scored more, but Bautista threw Valencia had seven RBIs. Now 36, he
Guzman homered in the seventh off 5 of the 2015 AL Division Series. He out Nick Rickles at the plate from left is a nine-year big league veteran who
Zack Weiss and surged ahead 6-5 in was mobbed by teammates in the field, his second assist of the Olym- last played in 2018.
the eighth when Danny Valencia hit middle of the infield. pics.
his third home run of the tourna- “This is going to take some time to
ment, a two-run drive off Jumbo “I’m glad and happy they’ve picked Julio Rodriguez hit an RBI single in get over. It hurts right now, and so be
Diaz. it up and they’re enjoying it,” he said the sixth off Jake Fishman and Mieses it,” he said. “This is something I’ll re-
of his many bat-flip imitators. “This tied the score 4-4 with a run-scoring member forever. And hopefully, like
Weiss (1-1) had relieved with one out game is for their enjoyment, and the grounder on a slow roller to third. Ian was saying, it will inspire people
in the sixth, and Israel manager Eric more ways that you can connect with in the country of Israel to pick up a
Holtz was reluctant to reach deeper the fans, I think that’s great.” Luis Castillo (1-1), a 25-year-old Ari- bat and ball and start playing baseball
into his bullpen. zona Triple-A right-hander, pitched a because they saw us on TV having
The Dominicans (2-2) earned a scoreless inning for the win. so much fun playing in the Olympic
Red Sox minor leaguer Johan Mie- matchup against the United States Games.”

Cavaliers acquire point guard Ricky Rubio from Timberwolves

(AP) — The Cavaliers pics. He scored 38 points in averaged 10.1 points, 3.7 re- games for Cleveland.
filled one of their biggest a quarterfinal loss to the U.S. Dellavedova recently signed bounds and 2.4 assists in 29
needs, acquiring veteran on Tuesday. a three-year deal in Australia.
point guard Ricky Rubio
from the Minnesota Tim- Rubio’s point total is a Span- Rubio averaged 8.6 points
berwolves on Tuesday. ish men’s Olympic record, and 6.4 assists last season
and the most ever scored by for Minnesota. He was back
Cleveland sent forward Tau- a U.S. men’s Olympic oppo- with the Timberwolves in
rean Prince, a 2022 second- nent, breaking the mark of 35 2021 after playing in Phoenix
round draft pick and cash to by Puerto Rico’s Butch Lee and Utah. He played his first
Minnesota for the 30-year- in 1976. six seasons with the Timber-
old Rubio, who has spent 10 wolves, who took him with
years in the NBA. The Cavs were desperate to the fifth overall pick in 2009.
find a dependable backup
The teams agreed to the deal point guard for Darius Gar- The Cavs acquired the
last week before the draft, land. Matthew Dellavedova 6-foot-7 Prince from Brook-
but had to wait for league served in that role last season, lyn last season in the three-
approval and because Rubio but he missed much of the team deal that sent James
was in Japan at the Olym- year after a concussion. Harden to the Nets. Prince