Touch 'Em All: U.S. beats Canada to advance in WBC

Team USA was down by 3-2 in the eighth inning against Canada on Sunday when Adam Jones doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs en route to a 9-4 win that sent the Americans to the second round of the World Baseball Classic.

The United States finished Group D play at 2-1, tied with upstart Italy, which lost to the Americans, 6-2, on Saturday.

In other WBC action Sunday, Venezuela beat Spain, 11-6, for a win that means very little since the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico finished ahead of both in Group C, which some wags have called the "Group of Death."

Cuba and Japan advance from Group A, and Group B will be represented by Taiwan and the Netherlands.

The violent misdeeds of the Mexican and Canadian baseball teams will go unpunished.

The World Baseball Classic decided that no players will be suspended after Saturday's bench-clearing brawl between the teams.

The organizers said Sunday that while the mayhem "runs counter to the spirit of sportsmanship and respectful competition," suspensions would not be appropriate because neither team advanced to the second round. Canada's 10-3 victory eliminated Mexico, and the Americans bounced the Canadians on Sunday.

With no big-league teams seeking his services, Manny Ramirez is off to Taiwan, where he will play for the EDA Rhinos in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

The 12-time all-star, who played winter ball in the Dominican Republic, had said that if he didn't have a contract with the bigs, he would play for the Rhinos. He will do that soon: He is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on Monday.

Ramirez, one of the most feared and colorful sluggers of all time, will turn 41 in May and will be paid a lot less than he's used to. Although financial details of the agreement with the Kaohsiung-based Rhinos were not disclosed, a good foreign player usually commands about $12,000 per month in Taiwan.

Also not disclosed was whether a "Mannywood" will be installed in Kaohsiung's Cheng Ching Lake Baseball Field (as there was in Dodger Stadium).

Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan, amid speculation about his role and future with the club, said Sunday he's still discussing the matter with the other principals. Ryan said that he has met with team cochairmen Ray Davis and Bob Simpson and that the "conversations have been productive."

- Wire and staff reports