2017 World Baseball Classic Pool E
Pool E of the Second Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, a quarter-final round in the tournament, was held at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, from March 12 to 15, 2017. The round was between Team Israel (won Pool A; ranked 41st in the world), Team Japan (won Pool B; ranked 1st in the world), Team Cuba (second in Pool B; ranked 5th in the world), and the Netherlands (second in Pool A; ranked 9th in the world). Pool E was a round-robin tournament. Each team played the other three teams once , with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals. Undefeated Japan (3−0) and the Netherlands (2−1) advanced to the semi-final round, as Israel (1−2) came in third in the pool, and Cuba (0−3) came in fourth. Standings. Pool E MVP: Wladimir Balentien Results. Israel 4, Cuba 1. In the first game of the second round, Team Israel, undefeated in the first round, beat Team Cuba (5th-ranked in the world) by a score of 4−1. Former Major Leaguer Jason Marquis (in 5.2 innings on three days' rest) and three Team Israel relief pitchers (including Brad Goldberg and Josh Zeid , who both threw 96 mph fastballs) kept Team Cuba to five hits and one run, a homer by Cuban star Alfredo Despaigne who became the all-time World Baseball Classic home run leader. Pool A MVP catcher Ryan Lavarnway had two hits for Israel. Japan 8, Netherlands 6. Japan, undefeated in the first round, beat the Netherlands 8−6 in 11 innings. The game lasted nearly five hours, and ended at 11:56 p.m. in Japan. The stadium scoreboard reminded fans younger than 18 to leave the stadium before midnight to comply with a juvenile safety law, and many fans left. Netherlands  12, Israel 2. In a rematch of the Pool A game in which Israel prevailed, the Netherlands defeated Israel 12–2 on March 13, giving Israel their first loss of the tournament. The game ended after eight innings with the application of the 10-run mercy rule. Japan 8, Cuba 5. Japan beat Cuba 8−5, backed by two home runs from designated hitter Tetsuto Yamada. Netherlands 14, Cuba 1. The Netherlands defeated Cuba 14−1, eliminating Cuba from contention to advance to the semi-final round, in a game ended after seven innings under the World Baseball Classic's mercy rule. Japan  8, Israel 3. Undefeated two-time WBC champion Team Japan beat Team Israel, 8−3.