O Canada! U.S. loses in WBC to Canada

The U.S. was not expected to lose any of the first-round games in the World Baseball Classic. Well, nobody told Team Canada, winners this afternoon, 8-6, over the U.S. at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Canada scored in each of the first five innings, building an 8-0 lead, then held on as the U.S. scored 6 runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Adam Stern (Boston) was the hero on many levels. Stern had three hits, including an inside-the-park home run, and drove in four runs. He also made several great defensive catches.

The other Canadian hero was Adam Loewen, a 21-year-old left-handed pitcher who has never pitched above A-ball, yet shutout the Major League Baseball U.S. veterans. Loewen defeated Dontrelle Willis, a pitcher who won 22 games for Florida last year. Steve Green, a Double-A prospect for Detroit, got the save.

Justin Morneau also had three hits for the Canadian attack. Jason Bay added two hits for Canada.

Unfortunately, for the U.S. TV audience, we missed most of the Canadian scoring. Cuba and Panama played to extra innings, which threw off the schedule. I'm glad the game was carried live in the U.S., but that led to the incomplete coverage. At least with the game on tape, you can show the runs. Unless you have ESPN Deportes in the States, you didn't see the whole game. Hopefully, Rogers SportsNet had better success with its coverage.

With the win, Canada is the only undefeated team in the Group B pool, virtually giving themselves a ticket to play this weekend in Anaheim, California. Canada must defeat Mexico, or if they lose to Mexico, allow 2 runs or less (tiebreakers).

Jeff Francis (Colorado) starts for Canada Thursday night against Mexico at 8 p.m. EST.

Despite the U.S. loss, both Canada and the U.S. should advance to play Korea and Japan in Anaheim. So the U.S. and Canada will meet again. If the Americans took Canada lightly before, the team won't now.