Cartwright leads Great Britain to win
Phillies prospect Albert Cartwright collected three hits and Great Britain beat the Czech Republic, 12-5, on Day 3 of the World Baseball Classic's qualifying round in Regensburg, Germany.
Great Britain was on the other end of a blowout in its WBC opener, falling to Canada, 11-1, on Thursday.
Five crooked numbers on the scoreboard reversed Great Britain's fortunes. Cartwright scored two runs on three singles and has four hits in eight international at-bats.
Born in the Bahamas, Cartwright batted .257 with 33 extra-base hits and 40 RBIs in 105 games for Class A Advanced Clearwater this season.
In addition to Cartwright, left fielder B.J. Hubbert, third baseman Sam Wiley and first baseman Aden McQueary each chipped in two hits. Hubbert slugged the game's lone homer, a solo shot in the seventh.
Czech Republic left fielder Jakub Malik and third baseman Mike Cervanek both were 3-for-5 in defeat.
Starter Jake Esch (1-0) was strong on the mound for Great Britain, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. The Marlins prospect struck out three while recording 10 groundouts in his WBC debut.
Esch's counterpart, Jan Blazek (0-1), yielded six runs on six hits and exited with one out in the third.
The Czech Republic also lost its WBC opener, 16-1, to host Germany on Friday in the modified double-elimination tournament.
In other WBC qualifying action:
Canada 16, Germany 7
Jimmy Van Ostrand homered twice and plated five runs in Canada's second win of the tournament. The Nationals farmhand went 4-for-5 at the plate.
Van Ostrand had help. Center fielder Tyson Gillies, right fielder Adam Loewen and third baseman Shawn Bowman all recorded three-hit games. Gillies, pinch-hitter Jordan Lennerton and left fielder Rene Tosoni homered.
Canada starter James Avery yielded four runs on five hits over 2 2/3 frames.
Germany starter Alex Burgos, the Tigers' No. 10 prospect, gave up four runs on five hits over three innings.