- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,169,254
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Red Sox Stars Fall Short In USA's Crushing WBC Loss To Venezuela originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For the second straight World Baseball Classic final, the United States is going home empty-handed.
USA was upset by Venezuela in the WBC championship game on Tuesday night, dropping a 3-2 nail-biter at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Despite being road underdogs after beating Italy on Monday, Venezuela narrowly prevailed for its first WBC title.
Venezuela struck first on Maikel Garcia's sacrifice fly in the top of the third, taking a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Wilyer Abreu tacked on another run with his second huge home run of the tournament, extending the lead to 2-0.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Rodriguez stifled USA's star-studded lineup, which was coming off a rest day, over 4 1/3 shutout innings, yielding just one hit -- a Bryce Harper single.
USA was held scoreless until the eighth, when Harper finally broke through with a game-tying two-run homer off Andres Machado, giving USA a much-needed spark.
That spark was short-lived, however. Pitching for the third time in five days, Garrett Whitlock allowed a leadoff walk to Luis Arraez, a stolen base by pinch runner Javier Sanoja and an RBI double to Eugenio Suarez in the top of the ninth, immediately giving Venezuela back the lead.
Daniel Palencia shut the door in the bottom of the ninth, retiring Kyle Schwarber, Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony 1-2-3 to seal Venezuela's 3-2 victory.
Despite having sensational tournaments, it was a tough ending for USA's Boston Red Sox stars. The run allowed by Whitlock was the only one he gave up all tournament, but it came at the worst possible time. Meanwhile, Anthony went 0-for-3 with a walk and struck out to end the game after looking like he might win WBC MVP.
Although it was a disappointing ending for them and their USA teammates, they have plenty to be proud of when they return to Fort Myers and resume preparations for Opening Day in Cincinnati next Thursday.
More MLB: Roman Anthony Shares Heartbreaking Quote On WBC Teammate Alex Bregman
Continue reading...
