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Team USA, Strasburg dominate the Netherlands

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Looking to avenge their walk-off loss to Korea in the Olympic opener, the USA Baseball team turned to San Diego State sophomore Stephen Strasburg against the Netherlands last night, and boy did the kid deliver. Squaring off against Futures Gamer Shairon Martis, Strasburg fired 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 11 in the process. He took a perfect game into the 5th before issuing a walk, and kept the no-hitter in tact until allowing a Jeterian flare single to right with 2 outs in the 7th. The only thing that could stop him was the weather, as a rain delay forced him from the game. Strasburg is the early favorite to go first overall in the 2009 draft, and it’s easy to see why with performances like this one (and this one too). If you’re interested, you can read about his Olympic journey at his StrasBlog.

Matt Brown provided the team the only offense it would need, hitting a solo homer in the second. Matt LaPorta hit a monster 3-run homer in the 4th, a shot that cleared the left field fence by a good 30-35 feet. Dexter Fowler and Jason Donald tacked on some runs in garbage time, while Casey Weathers struck out two in a perfect 8th to close out the 7-0, rain shortened win. The Netherlands had two baserunners all night, and neither made it past first. The power arms were just too much.

Team USA is now 1-1 in the round robin style tournament, and will take on Cuba tonight at 11:30. For the third day in a row I’ll guess that either Brett Anderson or Trevor Cahill takes to the mound, unless Davey Johnson elects to go with the more experienced Jake Arrieta against the Cubanos.

The video quality of the free online broadcast was ridiculously good, so I grabbed a couple screen caps of the stadium and Strasburg. Check ’em out after the jump.

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Team USA suffers walk-off loss in Olympic opener

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The USA Olympic baseball team lost it’s opener today, falling 8-7 to Korea. One time Yankee farmhand (and ex-Met) Brandon Knight drew the start and was pretty ineffective, allowing 8 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs in 4.1 IP (1 K). Mike Koplove, Brian Duensing & Kevin Jepsen followed with 3.2 perfect innings of relief. Team USA rallied for three runs in the top of the 9th, highlighted by a Mike Hessman solo homer and a Matt Brown 2-run single that gave the team a 7-6 lead. Closer Jeff Stevens (the guy the Indians got in the Brandon Phillips trade) blew the save in the bottom half thanks to a double, fielder’s choice, throwing error (by Stevens) and a walk-off sac fly.

Quick turn around for the red, white & blue; they’ll take on the Netherlands tonight at 10:30 EST. I imagine either Brett Anderson or Trevor Cahill will take the ball.

Update: Here’s the box score. Knight allowed 6 runs, not 3.

Olympic tune-ups begin today

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The USA Olympic baseball team started its final warmup before heading off to Beijing today, taking on Team Canada in a three-game set at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina. A’s uber-prospect Brett Anderson gave the team a strong start earlier today, but the immortal Stubby Clapp helped propel Canada to a 4-3 win in 10 innings. The second game of today’s doubleheader starts at 7pm tonight, with Trevor Cahill, another A’s uber-prospect, toeing the rubber for the red, white and blue. The game can be seen on mlb.tv.

Team USA’s roster has undergone a bit of an overhaul since I last reported it, with several players losing eligibility because of injuries and call-ups, with the most notable being Cardinals’ stud prospect Colby Rasmus, who is out with a knee injury. Baseball America previewed all eight Olympic teams like no one else can (no subscription req’d).

USA Olympic Roster announced

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It’s a solid group. The rotation is excellent, led by Brett Anderson, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Cahill and Steven Strasburg (San Diego State), and the bullpen is solid with Casey Weathers, Mike Koplove and Jeff Stevens (the guy the Indians got for Brandon Phillips). GM Bob Watson went for hitters that he knew could handle top flight pitching, surrounding young studs Colby Rasmus, Dexter Fowler and Matt LaPorta with veteran mashers Mike Hessman, John Gall and Terry Tiffee. No Yankees made the team, but I can’t imagine they were too keen on letting a guy like Mark Melancon leave their watch for a month.

Futures Game, USA Baseball musings

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I don’t know about you, but the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game have become a complete bore for me. The players aren’t really into it, the HR Derby can be like watching paint dry, and A-Rod wears those goofy white cleats. Maybe it would be different if I was actually able to attend the game, but at the current prices that seems highly unlikely. All-Star Weekend is not a total loss for me though, because for prospect junkies it gets no better than the Celebrity Softball Game Futures Game. Where else can you see Clayton Kershaw relieve Clay Buchholz, or Evan Longoria hit behind The Justin Upton, or Jose Tabata nearly decapitate Phil Hughes? Nowhere.

This year’s Futures Game comes with a little twist: the 2008 Olympic trials team will form the USA squad. Now, the roster that participates in the Futures Game won’t necessarily be the team that heads to Beijing in August, but rather it’ll be a group of players that are being considered for the Olympic squad. Davey Johnson, the man at the helm of the Olympic team, will manage the USA squad during the Futures Game, while Tino Martinez will take charge of the World Team.

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