World Baseball Classic II Begins

HAVANA TIMES, March 5.— World Baseball Classic II got under way on Thursday with the first game in the Asian group with Japan shutting out China 4-0. Yu Darvish started for the winners and pitched four innings of no-hit ball. The other two teams in Group A are South Korea and Chinese Taipei. Those teams play their first game on Friday.

Cuba is in Group B along with host Mexico, Australia and South Africa. It plays its opener on Sunday against South Africa at 2:00 p.m. Cuban time. For an inside look at Cuba in the Classic see Peter Bjarkman’s WBC Diary at: http://havanatimes.org/?p=5062