World Baseball Classic Qualifier Update

Well, the modified double elimination format didn't work in Team Israel's favor as Team Israel was eliminated Sunday after their only loss to Team Spain. Ben Orloff didn't see any action in this game, but Josh Zeid was used in all three games of the tournament for Team Israel.

Israel took an early lead but Spain fought back, taking a short-lived lead in the fourth inning and another one run lead in the eighth. Team Israel came back to tie it up in the bottom of the eighth. Josh Zeid came in to get three quick outs in the ninth and the game went to extras. In the top of the 10th, the Israeli catcher was ejected after Zeid issued a lead-off walk and then the wheels came off as a hit batter, sac bunt and a single led to two Team Spain runs. Israel wasn't able to come back in the bottom of the frame and that was pretty much that.

One side note. The 10-inning game was played in a crisp four hours and fifty minutes. It was an exciting game, but if this is the future of baseball around the world, God help us all.

The final game from this round of qualifiers will be at noon CST today and features Canada and Germany. The next qualifying rounds will be in November in Panama and Taiwan.

World Baseball Classic Qualifying Rounds Update

Corpus Christi Hooks LHP Alex Sogard saw action in the second game for the Czech Republic. In a video interview last week, Sogard talked about his mother's Czechoslovakian heritage and how excited he was to represent her on the Czech team. And represent he did! Sogard pitched three and two-thirds innings in relief and allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts in the Czech team's loss to Great Britain. Unfortunately, it was the Czech team's second loss so Alex will be heading home from Regensburg, Germany where this qualifying round took place.

Long-time Astros minor league followers might be interested to know that former Astro Albert Cartwright played for the British team and went 3-for-5 in yesterday's game. And Another former Astro has been making news in Regensburg for the Canadian team. Jimmy VanOstrand went 4-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI and scored three times in Team Canada's win over Germany yesterday.

Astros Josh Zeid and Ben Orloff will take part in the final qualifying round for Team Israel today in Jupiter, Florida. Team Israel is undefeated and will take on Team Spain for the second time in the tournament. Israel defeated Spain on Friday 4-2 in, as one very clever tweeter said, payback for the Spanish Inquisition. If you want to root on Team Israel, you can follow their game on the World Baseball Classic site live at 4:00 CST or watch the delay on MLB network at 7:00 CST this evening.

World Baseball Classic Qualifying Rounds Update

Israel won out over Spain 4-2 to advance to the final qualifying round which will take place on Sunday at 4:00 CST and can be seen live on the WBC website. Astros RHP Josh Zeid pitched the ninth inning and had to work around a lead-off double. He gave up one run on one hit and earned the save. 2B Ben Orloff also saw action in the game and went 0-for-3.

World Baseball Classic Qualifying Rounds Update

RHP Josh Zeid saw his first action in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers last night as his Team Israel prevailed over South Africa 7-3. Zeid came in in the sixth inning with two on and one out and struck out one batter before issuing an intentional walk and inducing a pop out for the third out to end the threat. He went on to pitch the seventh for Team Israel and allowed no hits and no runs and three strikeouts to go with the intentional walk. Manager Brad Ausmus had this to say about Zeid's performance.

"Huge difference. Not only is it a big difference in terms of the scoreboard, it could be a big momentum shift," Ausmus said. "Zeid's inning-plus there was probably the turning point of the game for us."

Ben Orloff did not get in to the first game for Team Israel. Their next game will be on Friday at 12:00 CST. The full schedule and results can be found here.