The drama started before the game when the United States replaced the injured Dustin Pedroia with Brian Roberts, an illegal substitution by WBC guidelines. The Dutch thought about protesting the move, but ultimately decided against it. It might not have been a bad idea, though; Roberts went 3-for-3 and was instrumental in helping the United States sprint out to an 8-0 lead.
Even in the face of that deficit, the Dutch refused to pack it in. They finally got on the scoreboard in the second and when Brian Englehart crushed a homer off of Matt Lindstrom in the eighth, we nearly saw our first WBC brawl. Lindstrom apparently took exception to how long Englehart admired his homer (the first homer for the Dutch in either WBC) and threw the next pitch at Vince Rooi. The Dutch team came off the bench and both dugouts were warned, but ultimately nothing came of it.
In addition to Roberts, Jimmy Rollins homered and drove in four runs and Adam Dunn homered again as the U.S. took care of business against a team it should've beaten. Team Netherlands really have nothing to hang their heads about, even though they're going home. The U.S. will now wait for the loser of the Puerto Rico-Venezuela game, which is being played Monday night, to play for the right to advance to the final round.
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