Dominicans Claim Baseball's World Title
The Dominican Republic scored twice in the first inning and then has their pitching shut out Puerto Rico the rest of the way to claim their first ever World Baseball Classic title.
The Dominican Republic scored twice in the first inning and then has their pitching shut out Puerto Rico the rest of the way to claim their first ever World Baseball Classic title.
Who will win the third World Baseball Classic?
The Dominican Republic scored four times in the fifth inning and their pitching shut down the Netherlands as they advanced to their first WBC finals ever.
The Dominican Republic is looking for revenge for their 2009 humiliation at the hands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At stake: a trip to the World Baseball Classic finals.
Surprising pitching, power from Alex Rios and a bizarre base running blunder sends two-time defending champion Japan home from the WBC and Puerto Rico into the finals.
The final four for the WBC starts now. Can Japan make it three tournaments in a row? Or can Puerto Rico keep Cinderella at the ball for one more game?
The game only counted for seeding, but the Dominican Republic kept their winning streak alive with a dominating pitching performance by Wandy Rodriguez and the Dominican bullpen.
It was win or go home for both teams and in the end, it was Puerto Rico that hung on to win and it was the United States that went home in the World Baseball Classic.
This game is "win or go home" for both teams. The winner clinches a spot in the semi-finals in San Francisco. Which Red, White and Blue will advance?
The Dominican Republic broke open a pitcher's duel with two runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the United States and clinch a berth in the WBC final four.
Ever since the World Baseball Classic started in 2006, this has been the game everyone wanted to see. For the first time, the match-up is here. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the final four in San Francisco.
Italy manager Marco Mazzieri kept his best pitcher in the bullpen as Puerto Rico scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning to advance in the World Baseball Classic.
Behind stellar pitching from Gio Gonzalez and clutch hitting by David Wright, Team USA is now only one win away from the final four in the World Baseball Classic.
Whose red, white and blue will come through?
The US takes on Puerto Rico in a battle of brothers tonight at 7:00. This afternoon, the Dominican Republic came from behind to beat Italy. Earlier, Japan topped the Netherlands for a number-one seed in the semi-finals.
The tournament shifts to Miami as four teams play in the second round for two tickets to the final four in San Francisco. First up is Italy and the Dominican Republic.
The Cuban manager said the Netherlands were "not a very good team" after the Cuba's loss to the team earlier in the second round. In the rematch, the Dutch showed they were good enough to beat Cuba.
Four more WBC games were played Sunday; two for high stakes and two for pride. Team USA avoided embarrassment with a late rally against Canada. Japan hit six home runs to keep their quest for three straight WBC titles alive.
One baseball power stayed alive in the tournament thanks to a grand slam by David Wright. Venezuela had no such luck as Puerto Rico handed them their second straight loss and a quick exit out of the tournament.
A historically-ugly baseball brawl ensued after Mexican pitcher Arnold Leon drilled Rene Tosoni in the top of the ninth inning of a Canadian victory. The Dominican Republic held on against Spain and Cuba eliminated Chinese Taipei from the tournament
Team USA got embarrassed by a motivated Mexican team who had their backs against the wall. Spain put forth a nice effort, but that wasn't enough to overcome a talented Puerto Rico team.
Chinese Taipei gave Japan all they could handle, but the host country eked out a victory in extra innings.
The Big Red Machine from Cuba fell to the Little Orange Engine that could. Italy gets a late "double" from Anthony Rizzo to beat Mexico and the match-up between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic fizzled as the Dominican bats were too much.
Team USA has one goal in the WBC: Win the whole thing. Before they can do that, however, they're going to have to advance out of the pool with Mexico, Canada and Italy.
I'm calling this pool "The Group Of Death" because of three Caribbean baseball powers: Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. One of those three teams, along with Spain, will not advance to the second round.
The game certainly didn't seem meaningless to the two teams involved. Cuba brought out some strong pitching and their thunder sticks to beat the host Japanese team 6-3 in the final game of the Fukuoka pool