On the second day of the relegation round, the following games were scheduled:
Austria @ Russia and Sweden @ Germany. Both games had blowout scores as result.
Austria 4 – 14 Russia
An all-Austrian team was no match for a Russian team that contained several Cuban players. Austria took an early 3-0 lead but could not cling on to it very long. In the bottom of the first inning, Russia scored twice and in the bottom of the second inning, the Russians tied the game.
Where both teams kept each other in check rather well during the following innings, Austria regained the lead in the top of the sixth, when it loaded the bases three consecutive walks and scored on a sac fly. But Russia would bounce back big time. RBI singles by Geidys Soler Hinojosa, Ian Alejandro Perez Nunes, Viacheslav Vasilev, and Maxim Makarin, a wild pitch, and a three-run home run by Maxim Monakhov drove in eight runs, which led to a rather flattered result. The game ending run came in the bottom of the seventh when Viacheslav Vasilev hit a sac fly that drove in Luis Yunior Valiente.
Dmitry Shtykher earned the win after pitching a no-hit seventh in which he walked one and struck out two. Brian Fürböck took the loss. In 2.1 innings, he allowed five runs on three hits
and six walks and struck out three.
Average-wise, Kirill Chermoshentsev was the best hitter as he went 1 for 1 with a double.
Sweden 2 – 13 Germany
After pushing aside Russia in seven innings yesterday, Sweden was no match for an unleashed German team. After two innings, the Germans had a comfortable 9-0 lead.
Until the fourth inning, German Starter Enorbel Marquez dealt the Swedes three 1-2-3 innings but then Sweden got on the board when Thomas Paulich grounded out 6-3 to allow Joel Johnson to score from third. But Germany answered immediately with a sac fly by Elias von Garssen, that drove in Danilo Weber.
Another sac fly in the sixth, drove in the second and final run for Sweden, and once again, Germany answered right away. A single up the middle by Elias von Garssen drove in two runs and a force out at second base on a hit by Pascal Amon, drove in Marco Cardoso for the final run of the game.
Enorbel Marquez lasted five innings for the win. He gave up one run on four hits and struck out seven. Jakob Syrén took the loss. After 0.2 innings he was pulled as he allowed three
runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out one.
Leadoff hitter Alexander Schmidt was the best German hitter as he went 3 for 3 with two runs scored.
Tomorrow, Slovakia will face Ukraine and Greece will take on France in order to avoid relegation.
On Saturday, Austria and Sweden will play for the eleventh place, and Germany and Russia will play for the ninth place in the final standings.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 