The World Baseball Classic Cruzes On

When Carlos Correa hit an RBI single in the first inning, the first of six straight singles off US starter Marcus Stroman, he took off his batting helmet and ran his right hand over the top of his bleached-blond hair.

HOW THE GAME WAS WON: Stroman gave up three hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his previous start against the Dominican Republic, but the top of the Puerto Rican lineup aggressively attacked him in the first inning. In 4.2 innings of work, he allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk.

Team USA would respond in the bottom half of the inning, though, with Old Friend Jonathan Lucroy hitting a sacrifice fly to bring in Eric Hosmer, making the score 2-1.

Second baseman Javier Baez singled, stole three bases and scored a run for Puerto Rico, who finished runner-up in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Molina singled in run in Puerto Rico’s big first inning. The damage resulted in four first-inning runs. “All the teams are really good”, said Baez. He summoned Andrew Miller from the bullpen with the 3-0 count.

Miller’s first pitch was a ball to put Rosario on first.

“It’s awesome that the guys that have been coming up to me saying, ‘If you need me in right field, if you need me to catch, I’m able to, ‘” Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel said.

A throwing error by third baseman Nolan Arenado in the sixth inning gave Puerto Rico two runs, which they ended up needing to withstand the late USA rally.

It wasn’t an easy play for Hosmer to make because the throw from Arenado was bad, but this wasn’t Leyland’s best defensive team on the field. For his effort, Baez was named Player of the Game.

Alex Cora, the general manager of Puerto Rico, described his group of players as “a team of 28 ballplayers” compared to others that are “a team of 28 stars”.

Crawford almost played the hero in the ninth inning as the USA rallied against Puerto Rico’s closer, Seattle Mariners pitcher Edwin Diaz.

Dominican third baseman Manny Machado made a great play to throw out Miguel Cabrera in the sixth.

The rally felt more ominous because Puerto Rico’s dugout emptied to celebrate each run as if it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Diaz came back to strike out the next batter, Josh Harrison, to end the game.

But this victory puts them back in the driver’s seat as they will enter the final day of the second round action tied for second with the loser of Friday’s US versus Puerto Rico contest. The final round begins Monday in Los Angeles. It is fun to look at their roster in the same way it is fun to look at the Dominican Republic’s roster.

“Bounce back”, he wrote on Twitter.

It’s an important game for the Dominican team, since they lost, somewhat surprisingly, to the Puerto Ricans in their first second round game on Tuesday. Venezuela ended the game with only five hits out of 29 at bats, leaving just one runner in scoring position.