By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Imagn Images
Team USA will reach its third trip to the World Baseball Classic final after defeating the powerhouse Dominican Republic, 2-1, on Sunday night in Miami, Florida.
Team USA’s pitching was magnificent. Paul Skenes was the starter for the USA. He earned his second victory of the tournament after tossing four innings with two strikeouts. Skenes gave up a home run to Junior Caminero, which put DR on the board 1-0.
After Skenes, manager Mark DeRosa used five different pitchers. The bullpen combined for six strikeouts and gave up just two hits.
Luis Severino took the mound for the Dominican Republic. Severino looked like the pitcher from his early years when he emerged onto the scene. We saw vintage Severino. He finished the game with six strikeouts. The only mistake he made was giving up a solo home run to Gunnar Henderson in the top of the fourth inning.
In the same inning, Roman Anthony hit a home run to center field off pitcher Gregory Soto, to put the USA on top 2-1. Overall, both teams pitched an outstanding game—Dominican Republic pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
As for DR’s offense, they didn’t have an answer for USA’s pitching. They had plenty of opportunities to score runs. Dominican Republic went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. It’s very rare for a talented team not to maximize those opportunities, but in this tournament, anyone can go cold or go hot. It’s unpredictable. Mason Miller got the save for the USA.
Best Defensive Plays of the Game:
- Aaron Judge throws out Fernando Tatis Jr out at third
- Julio Rodriguez robs Judge of a home run
- Brice Turang takes away a base hit from Juan Soto
The USA will wait for the winner of the Venezuela/Italy game, which is tonight. The classic final will be on Tuesday, March 17th at 8 pm ET.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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