Argentines shut out hard luck Blu Boys

November 28 ------ The Philippine Blu Boys were held to just one hit in suffering a 6-0 loss to defending champion Argentina on Sunday in the Men’s Softball World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.

Michael Pagkalinawan’s single in the fifth inning prevented the Blu Boys’ from suffering a no-hitter to an Argentinian side that leaned on winning pitcher Martin Gonzalez and reliever Roman Godoy, who combined for 17 strikeouts.

Starter Juliuz dela Cruz gave up a three-run homer to Alan Peker that broke a scoreless tie for the 2019 World Cup winners with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Dela Cruz was relieved after coughing up Peker’s round-tripper and the Filipino batters eventually succumbed to another setback at Rosedale Park

It was the second straight defeat for the Philippines, which a day earlier opened its campaign with a narrow 1-0 loss to the United States. Argentina improved to 2-0 after beginning its title-retention bid with a 3-1 victory over Cuba. Next up for the Blu Boys on Monday is Cuba, which totes a 1-1 record after bouncing back with a 7-0 thrashing of the Czech Republic.

The top three teams in the group advance to the super round while the lower three squads will be relegated to a placement round.

Source: sports.inquirer.net