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WBC Notes: Polanco Reaches Base Three Times in Loss; Marte Still Bothered by Ankle Injury

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On Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic, the Dominican Republic lost 3-1 to Puerto Rico. It was the first loss in the WBC for the Dominican team since 2009. Gregory Polanco batted eighth and started in center field. He went 2-for-3, with a single, double, walk and stolen base. He is now 6-for-11 in three games.

Starling Marte was out of the lineup again on Tuesday. Dominican manager Tony Pena told the media prior to the game that Marte felt a little pain after Saturday’s game and he wasn’t 100% yet.  Marte originally hurt the ankle against the Pirates on Wednesday during the Dominican exhibition game in Bradenton. He sat out the first game of the WBC on Thursday. They had Friday off, and Marte said he was ready to go on Saturday, but he injured the ankle again. The original injury was called right ankle swelling and that returned after Saturday’s game. Marte also missed Sunday’s game, but Polanco has been his replacement in this tournament and he has obviously been hitting well.

Wednesday’s action includes Jared Lakind and Israel against Japan at 6:00 AM (7:00 PM local time in Tokyo). Then Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison and Team USA will start their second round against Venezuela at 9:00 PM. Both games will be shown live on MLB Network.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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