Giant Prospect Pitches No-Hitter

Shairon Martis, a San Francisco Giant minor leaguer, pitched the first no-hitter in the World Baseball Classic, leading the Netherlands over Panama, 10-0, Friday in a game stopped after seven innings because of a mercy rule.

Martis ended the game at San Juan, Puerto Rico, with his 65th pitch -- the limit for starting pitchers in the first round -- when Cesar Quintero hit into a double-play grounder.

“I was thinking I had to keep the fastball low to get as many groundballs as possible,” Martis said. “I feel very proud of having thrown a no-hitter.”

A right-hander who turns 19 this month, Martis signed with the Giants in 2004. He was 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA in 11 appearances last season for the Giants’ Arizona Rookie League team.

Puerto Rico 12, Cuba 2 -- Bernie Williams and Carlos Beltran homered as Puerto Rico routed Cuba in a WBC game at San Juan, Puerto Rico, with both teams having already secured spots in the second round.

Williams hit a two-run homer in the second in front of a crowd of 19,000. Beltran hit a towering three-run homer over the foul pole in right field and Alex Cintron added a two-run shot in the fourth.

Dominican Republic 6, Australia 4 -- Francisco Liriano flashed the stuff that makes him one of the most prized pitching prospects in baseball, and the Dominican Republic finished undefeated in the first round at Kissimmee, Fla.

Alberto Castillo hit a two-run double off loser Damian Moss, Wily Mo Pena had an RBI single and Miguel Tejada added a sacrifice fly in front of 11,083 mostly Dominican fans.

Liriano, who threw 27 of 36 pitches for strikes in 2 2/3 innings, is a 22-year-old left-hander with the Minnesota Twins.

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While Cuba played the Netherlands on Thursday, a spectator raised a sign saying: “Down with Fidel,” prompting Angel Iglesias, the top Cuban official at the game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to confront the man. Puerto Rican police quickly intervened.

Local organizers responded by banning posters of a political nature, but a top police official said his officers would not enforce the ban.