The United States finally won the World Baseball Classic after defeating Puerto Rico 8-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The country that invented baseball finally was able to earn the right to be called world champion after having mixed results in the first three editions of the WBC. So far, the best the USA had achieved at the WBC was a fourth place in 2009.
In 2006, the Americans did not appear among the four semifinalists.; while in 2013they failed again to reach the semifinals despite a squad full of stars.
This year it was all different. The star caliber players were still there but the organization made sure to get a dedicated and respected manager in Jim Leyland, determined to give America the elusive baseball trophy. Leyland came back from retirement to head this team and take commando of a group of stars that finally managed to come together at the right time and win the games that mattered.
Although Team USA did not own the best record of the tournament (6-2), they did win against Japan and Puerto Rico, wo really tough and talented teams full of MLB players.
Puerto Rico reached the final with an unbeaten record product of a seven-game winning streak. They absolutely destroyed everyone they faced (including a 6-5 win against the US in pool F in the second round) as they scored 55 runs and allowed just 18.
The Puerto Ricans, who lost the 2013 Finals 0-3 to Dominican Republic, did not want to waste a second chance to win the title and due to their impressive performances in previous rounds, this time they seemed to have a teamthat could deliver.
But unfortunately for them, they seem to have run out of steam near the finish line once again, as their bats came totally flat in the final.
Seth Lugo, one of the best pitchers of the tournament, was the starter for Puerto Rico; while Marcus Stroman, who had a forgettable performance (8 hits and 4 earned runs in 4.2 innings) in the previous game against the Puerto Ricans, was the starter for the U.S.
But Stroman was looking for redemption and boy did he get it!
After a couple of fairly even innings, the U.S was able to open the score in the third inning. Jonathan Lucroy started the inning with a hit and immediately after that leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler connected a long homer to give the Americans a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth inning Kinslerscored after Christian Yelich singled on a sharp line drive to right field to increase the lead to 3-0.Yelich one of the best hitters in the tournament, would in turn be driven home by Andrew McCutchen and give the American the 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Marcus Stroman was on a roll shutting down the Puerto Rican bats one after another striking out three and allowing one hit and no runs in six innings of work.
A cheerful, intelligent, experienced and dynamic offense was kept at bay by the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, who finished the World Baseball Classic with a magnificent performance
The United States, who knew pretty well that the Puerto Rican hitters could catch fire at any given moment did not stop attacking the opposing pitchers. In the seventh inning
Brandon Crawford singled on a line drive to center fielder driving Nolan Arenado and Eric Hosmer to give the U.S a 6-0 lead. The Americans made it 7-0 when Giancarlo Stanton singledon a ground ball to left field to drive Andrew McCutchenhome.
Stroman’s performance made him worthy of the Final’s Most Valuable Player award and lay the foundation of the victory for the Americans. Sam Dyson, Pat Neshek and David Robertson followed Stroman’s example and kept the Puerto Rican batters in check as they struck out three allowed two hits and no runs in three inning of work.
The last run of the game came in the eighth inning when the final result was no longer in doubt, after Andrew McCutchen singled on a ground ball to second, scoring Nolan Arenado.
The United States thus adds its name to the list of world champions along with those of Japan (2006, 2009)and the Dominican Republic (2013).
