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USA Shuts Down Dominican Republic, Advances to World Baseball Classic Final
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Team USA won an incredible baseball game on Sunday night by a final score of 2-1, powered by two solo shots from AL East stars Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony.
They’ll play Italy or Venezuela in Tuesday night’s final.
This matchup, on paper, was one of the best in baseball history. The star talent was out of this world. The hype was there. The Marlins’ stadium was even sold out, which is rare! This game featured 52 All-Star appearances, 11 gold gloves, 32 silver sluggers, and 5 MVPs.
Junior Caminero opened up the scoring early with a 2-strike bomb off of Paul Skenes. It wasn’t a bad pitch from Skenes, but Caminero went and got it up in the zone and crushed it out to left. Caminero has been on fire in the WBC for a Dominican Republic team that has averaged 10+ runs per game coming into the matchup.
Bryce Harper has struggled so far in the WBC, entering tonight’s game just 3 for 21 in the tournament. Harper ripped a ball down the line for a double in the 3rd, but Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber struck out and stranded two. For all of the idiotic early talk about Bryce Harper being washed because he’s struggling in March, it was nice to see Harper rip a ball early.
Alex Bregman has been the starting third baseman for Team USA most nights, but Bregman has struggled. Mark DeRosa elected to go with Gunnar Henderson, who was a career 7 for 9 against Luis Severino coming in. Severino threw Henderson a meatball in the 4th, and he didn’t miss it:
Remember Phillies legend Gregory Soto? Well, he replaced Severino following Henderson’s solo homer. Soto would face Roman Anthony, and Anthony, who has had an awesome showing in the WBC, crushed one out to right-center to give Team USA a 2-1 lead:
This game had a little bit of everything, which was expected with the amount of talent on the field. Defense was the highlight of the night, with big plays made by Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr, Julio Rodriguez, and more. The scoring got quiet after Anthony’s 4th-inning homer. The Dominican Republic blew a couple big chances, and Team USA couldn’t get any insurance across the plate.
The biggest difference in this game was the pitching staff of Team USA. I was confident in Skenes, but with the fire-power of the Dominican lineup, I was worried about the innings after Skenes exited. Tyler Rogers, David Bednar, Garrett Whitlock, and Mason Miller held it down, not allowing a single run in their 4.2 innings of work. It was a masterful performance against one of the best lineups ever put together.
If you’re reading this, I hope you got to watch this game. It was incredibly fun. There was so much talent on the baseball field at the same time. The two best teams in the tournament meeting up in the semifinals doesn’t feel right, but what a game it was. Every baseball fan, or just sports fan in general, should’ve had this game on their TV.
Team USA, after a near early-exit in pool play, find themselves in the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday at 7 PM EST. If Italy moves on to the final, there’s a chance it could be Aaron Nola on the hill vs. Team USA.
Luke Arcaini writes about the Phillies for Crossing Broad, covers the Phillies for FOX Sports The Gambler, and co-hosts "Phillies Digest" on YouTube. The wave is the worst thing in all of sports. Contact: lukearcaini8@gmail.com