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The United States pitching finally was their undoing in the WBC. Against Venezuela, they gave up 2 runs early on to make it 2-0. Bryce Harper’s heroics in the 8^th inning gave the US a shot as the game was tied 2-2 heading into the 9^th inning. However, the pitching sealed the game in the 9^th inning as Venezuela would score another run to make it 3-2 and win the championship.

United States has best game of WBC, thanks to Henderson, Anthony, beating Dominican Republic in Semis. For the United States to beat the Dominican Republic in the semifinals of the WBC, they needed to be absolutely perfect. Thankfully, they did just that. The United States gave up a home run in the bottom of the 2^nd inning to make it 1-0 Dominican Republic, so the United States had to bear down to get back in the game. Examples of this occurred in the bottom of the 3^rd inning as Aaron Judge had to throw out Fernando Tatis Jr of the Dominican Republic, who is a fast runner, at third base to end the inning. In the top of the 4^th inning, US manager, Mark DeRosa’s move to put Gunnar Henderson in the lineup thanks to his recent success against the Dominican Republic’s pitcher Luis Serverino paid off as Henderson hit a homerun to make it 1-1.

Before we recap US-Canada, the Unnamed Sports Blog would like to send our condolences to South Korea who had to fly all the way from Tokyo to Miami just to get curb stomped by the Dominican Republic 10-0 in a game that ended in a mercy ruling. It is painful enough that teams have to fly such a long distance on such a short time frame and with little time to practice, but not scoring any runs and the game ending in a mercy ruling is such a cruel way to end your WBC run.

Despite a feel-good victory over Mexico, the United States almost imploded and was nearly eliminated unexpectedly in group play. In the US vs. Mexico game, Aaron Judge hit a 2-run homerun to start the game. Plenty of Boston Red Sox stars saw action in this game. Roman Anthony hit a 3-run home run that traveled 417 feet. Jared Duran for Mexico hit 2 homeruns in this game. Garrett Whitlock of the US recorded the save and the United States would hold off Mexico 5-3.

It took only his first at bat for Aaron Judge to declare the United States’ intentions in the World Baseball Classic. Those intentions were to win. Judge hit a home run to make it 2-0 over Brazil. However, the United States had to overcome sluggish starts to secure big victories over Brazil and the United Kingdom.

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) this year seeks to capture the inspiration that causes the viewer and attendee to rally around the United States during competition. The United States roster is dubbed as one of the most talented ever constructed for this event. Stars such as Aaron Judge (who is being dubbed ‘Captain America’ by supporters), Paul Skenes, Cal Raleigh, Bryce Harper, and Alex Bregman are on the roster. Garrett Whitlock and Roman Anthony are the two Boston Red Sox players on the roster. The Red Sox have 15 players participating in the WBC in total. This tournament has become so popular that Clayton Kershaw of the US came out of retirement just to end his career in this event.

Duke is counting down the days until the World Baseball Classic.