Category: Baseball

Venezuela is off to its first World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday night, but it used up a lot of its biggest bullpen arms in the process.

While the USA had a day off on Monday night for its arms to rest, seven Venezuelan arms pitched in their 4-2 win over Italy.

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Keider Montero (Tigers), Ricardo Sánchez, Luinder Avila (Royals), Angel Zerpa (Brewers), Eduard Bazardo (Mariners), Andrés Machado and Daniel Palencia (Cubs) combined to allow two runs, both of which were given up by Montero.

The six relievers combined to throw 7 ⅔ scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks. The Venezuelans dominated the Italian lineup while their bats scored three times in the seventh inning to take the lead.

“They just threw everybody tonight,” MLB on FOX analyst Derek Jeter said after Tuesday’s game in Miami. 

The Venezuelans threw seven pitchers in their win over Japan on Saturday night, as well, with Bazardo, Zerpa, Machado and Palencia appearing in both games. Jeter pointed out that not only is that a potentially heavy workload at any time of year, but this is the time of year, teams are more focused on their pitchers making it healthily to opening day than anything else.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will be on the mound for Venezuela against Team USA on Tuesday night in Miami. Rodriguez last pitched on Wednesday in a loss to the Dominican Republic, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Jeter likes the matchup for the Americans.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say they get it going tomorrow night,” Jeter said.

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Team USA. Venezuela. We have ourselves a World Baseball Classic Championship Game. 

Venezuela took down surprise squad Italy in Monday’s semifinal game after having defeated defending champions Japan. 

Awaiting the South American squad in the final is Aaron Judge and Team USA, who took down the Dominican Republic in the semis. 

The game will be Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. 

How to Watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic

FOX is your exclusive home to the WBC with games spread across the FOX family of networks. 

The USA vs. Italy/Venezuela Championship Game will be on FOX on Tuesday, March 17 (8 p.m. ET). The game will be available for streaming on the FOX Sports app and FOX One. Catch the action on the following streaming options:

• FOXSports.com and FOX Sports app
• FOX One

How to Watch on Galaxy XR Headset

Watch the World Baseball Championship Game on the FOX Sports XR app for the Galaxy XR headset powered by Android XR.

How to Watch At Cosm

Watch the World Baseball Classic Championship Game in a live immersive experience at Cosm’s award-winning shared reality venues in Dallas & Los Angeles. For details, click on Cosm.com.

Team USA Lineup, Pitchers

USA manager Mark DeRosa will go with New York Mets starter Nolan McLean for Tuesday’s final. He started in the USA’s lone loss at the WBC, a 8-6 setback to Italy in Pool B play. The 24-year-old McLean had a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings for the Mets down the stretch last season.

“I’m built for this,” McLean said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this.”

The vaunted USA lineup has nine home runs through the tournament, with four players (Yankees OF Aaron Judge, Red Sox OF Roman Anthony, Cubs OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Orioles 2B Gunnar Henderson) with two each. Anthony leads the team with seven RBI and Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has eight hits so far. 

Venezuela Lineup, Pitchers

Team Venezuela has had an amazing run at the WBC, defeating Italy in the semifinals and the reigning champs Japan in the quarters. Now they face the ultimate test in Tuesday’s matchup if they want to take down the USA for the first WBC title in its history.

Venezuela will go with Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound against the USA. The Diamondbacks pitcher allowed three runs in 2.2 innings against the Dominican Republic in pool play. 

Luis Arráez has been a hitting machine for Venezuela. The Padres star has two home runs and 10 RBI with a solid .348 batting average. In the win over Italy, Eugenio Suarez hit his first home run of the tournament. Royals star Maikel Garcia and Ronald Acuña Jr. had homers in the win against Japan, as did Wilyer Abreu who hit the definitive three-run homer that sealed the win over Japan. 

WBC Final

Tuesday, March 17: USA vs. SF2 winner (8 p.m., LoanDepot Park in Miami on FOX)

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

We’re set for a World Baseball Classic final for the ages. USA vs. Venezuela. Two of the tournament favorites will play for it all on Tuesday in Miami.

But before we get to that, let’s recap Monday’s semifinal action at the World Baseball Classic. 

Venezuela Into First Ever WBC Final

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In the end, the espresso machine just couldn’t generate enough juice.

Italy’s surprise run at the WBC came to an end as Venezuela took care of business against the Italians in front of a raucous crowd in Miami. It’s now the first ever WBC championship game appearance for the Venezuelans. 

Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a seventh-inning rally to propel Venezuela to the victory. 

Venezuela overcame a 2-0, fourth-inning deficit after rebounding from a three-run hole to beat defending champion Japan in a quarterfinal and reached the final for the first time after losing to South Korea in its only previous semifinal appearance in 2009.

Italy, the first European nation to reach a WBC semifinal, had been 5-0 in the tournament and sparked attention with an espresso-sipping ritual after home runs and victory celebrations featuring Italian wine.

Italy went ahead in the second when Keider Montero forced in a run with three straight walks, the last to J.J. D’Orazio. Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring forceout against Ricardo Sanchez, the first of six relievers who combined to finish a five-hitter.

Eugenio Suárez’s fourth-inning homer off Aaron Nola started the comeback, and winner Angel Zerpa escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he threw a sinker on the outside corner past Sam Antonacci.

Gleyber Torres walked leading off the seventh against loser Michael Lorenzen, and Jackson Chourio’s two-out single put runners at the corners.

Acuña grounded to the shortstop hole and beat Antonacci’s throw from the outfield grass as pinch-runner Andrés Giménez scored. Garcia lined a 2-0 fastball to left, driving in Chourio with the go-ahead run, and Arraez chased Lorenzen when he singled on a full-count fastball.

Daniel Palencia got three outs for the save, striking out Antonacci to end the game.

USA Will Be ‘Home’ Team in WBC Final

Because both teams are 5-1, a coin toss was held earlier Monday to determine the home team, and the U.S. won.

But don’t be surprised if the crowd in Miami, just like was in Monday’s game, will have a lot more fans cheering for Venezuela. 

Regardless, Team USA is looking forward to the challenge of winning their first WBC title since 2017 after losing the 2023 title to Japan. U.S. captain Aaron Judge’s controlled composure has filtered through the clubhouse ahead of Tuesday night’s final against Venezuela.

“It’s been cool to see how he goes about his business,” said star pitcher Paul Skenes, who got the win in the semifinal over the Dominican Republic. “He’s not faking anything. He’s playing as Aaron Judge, so that’s just his personality in the clubhouse and off the field. Obviously, it shows up on the field, too.”

The USA will also likely face Venezuela pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez against the Americans’ Nolan McLean. 

McLean started in the USA’s lone loss at the WBC, a 8-6 setback to Italy in Pool B play. The 24-year-old McLean had a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings for the Mets down the stretch last season.

“I’m built for this,” McLean said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this.”

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

There are many familiar faces and names to MLB fans on the Italy roster, including a couple on the coaching staff.

Francisco Cervelli is the manager, and his former Yankees teammate, Jorge Posada, is the Azzurri’s assistant hitting coach. Posada spoke with the MLB on FOX crew ahead of Italy’s World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela, which includes former teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, along with former Red Sox rival David Ortiz.

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Posada’s parents are Cuban and Dominican, so he was asked how this gig with the Italian team came about. He and Cervelli were teammates from 2008-2011, which began their relationship that brought him to the WBC.

“Cervey called me about eight months ago and he said, ‘I’m doing the managing for Team Italy, and I want you to be part of my group,’” Posada said. “And I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’m in.’”

Italy scored 32 runs in its four pool-play games before scoring eight against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals.

“It’s just they grind at-bats,” Posada said. “They do the right things to put themselves in good counts. They’re not afraid. They’re not afraid. They go to get you. And we’ve been pitching very well. So, hopefully that keeps going.”

“The way they put at-bats (together), the way they pitch, execute, move the lineup around — it was really impressive to see,” Posada added. “And that’s all you want. You want people to step up.”

Working with Cervelli, though, has been the highlight for Posada, who also played and won championships with Jeter and A-Rod. They all spoke highly of Cervelli, who played in MLB from 2008-2020.

“Yeah, he’s been unbelievable,” Posada said. “He’s prepared. He’s looking forward to every day. The way he talks, he’s just a grown man. I mean, and it’s good to see that what we saw — the energy and stuff he has — developed into a great human man.”

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

LoanDepot Park (Miami) – Hours after the Dominican Republic was eliminated by the United States, players walked out of the clubhouse blasting a high-energy Dominican Dembow song. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto strutted through the tunnel of the Miami Marlins’s stadium unable to mask their expressions of disappointment and frustration. 

Yet, despite their 2-1 defeat to Team USA in the World Baseball Classic semifinal, the Dominican Republic tried their best to leave the tournament the same way they entered it. As Soto said a day before the WBC started: “We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to be loud.”

The Dominican Republic team paraded its distinctive style of playing baseball with fun and flair from beginning to end in their undefeated run to the semifinals. Players lifted a dumbbell adorned with plantains to celebrate hitting home runs. They danced and took fake selfies at home plate. They pounded their chests while running the bases. They smiled. They laughed. They hugged. They sent 40-foot bat flips into the air. Every swing was dramatic. Every strikeout was aggressive. Every at-bat was a confrontation. 

This wasn’t fluff; they backed it up. The Dominican Republic this year set a record for the most home runs (15) by a single team in WBC history. Their celebrations were just as explosive as their offensive firepower. 

The festive atmosphere created by the Dominican Republic had a ripple effect across sold-out crowds and through social media as people watching the tournament worldwide experienced the joy that became the team’s identity. Passion was their personality. Entertainment was essential. And it’s not just the Dominican Republic. Team Italy has an espresso machine in the dugout, and players drink a shot of java after hitting home runs.

That style of play was so endearing and so infectious that Team USA fans wondered why players didn’t seem like they were having fun. Dugout celebrations were quieter. Their energy was consistent, if monotonous. There were no props to commemorate home runs. USA’s sense of been there, done that is in stark contrast to the way the rest of the countries in the tournament have openly shown emotion. The Americans took care of business, and played like businessmen.

They know they’re being criticized for it.

“For some reason, everyone thinks that we don’t have fun playing baseball,” USA outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said after their win on Sunday. “I don’t know if we make it look like we don’t have fun or what, but our goal is to make it to the championship game. I don’t think we want to get ahead of ourselves, and I think we understand that it’s nine innings of baseball.”

Crow-Armstrong said the team is “having a blast out there.” To prove his point, he posted on his Instagram story a picture of Gunnar Henderson’s home run against the Dominican Republic and Team USA’s excited reaction, accompanied by the song “Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore. The Chicago Cubs outfielder sounded almost offended as he defended the perception that the team isn’t having fun. 

“I’m not offended at all,” he said. “I just think it’s hilarious. Really, I do.”

Crow-Armstrong continued: “You guys will think it’s silly if we shuffled like Soto or did Vladdy’s little whip move. That’s them. And if I had enough swag to do that, I’d probably do that too. I think you guys would think it was funny if we were out there doing what they’re doing. I don’t think that’d be as authentic as it is for them to be who they are. And that’s totally okay. We’ve won in our own way, but we definitely have fun out there.”

The USA might not have aura, but it does have immense talent. 

Manager Mark DeRosa compiled the most star-studded roster the tournament has ever seen. The offense is led by team captain and three-time MVP Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Bobby Witt Jr., and Bryce Harper. And the pitching staff featured the reigning Cy Young award winners from each league in Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, alongside a lethal bullpen arm in Mason Miller. Twenty-one of the 30 players on USA’s roster have been MLB All-Stars, a total that led all teams in the tournament. 

USA is a juggernaut. After Sunday’s win over the Dominican Republic, USA advanced to the WBC final and will play the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Italy and Venezuela. As far as the Americans are concerned, they’re letting their winning pedigree speak for itself.

“Japan plays a certain game. America plays a certain game. Latin American countries play a certain game,” Harper said. “We’re all in this tournament feeding off of playing a great game, and that’s what makes our game so great, is there’s so many different cultures that play this game.

“I can’t dance a lick like Tatis can, but I have fun playing this game. So I think it’s such a storyline for all you guys, compared to us. We’re just going out there and enjoying the game that we play, and that’s kind of how we feel.”

It’s fascinating that Harper, of all people, is on the team that’s receiving criticism for not showing enough emotion. Back when he won National League Rookie of the Year in 2012, Harper received backlash for playing the game with intensity and passion. He often challenged America’s traditional unwritten rules and tried to make the game exciting with emphatic bat flips and his signature fiery competitiveness. 

“Latin American countries play with a lot of flair, a lot of energy,” he said. “And I love watching it because that’s how I played when I was younger. I got in trouble for it.”

Harper used to be bold. He played with different colored bats and unique styles of cleats. He smeared way too much eye-black on his cheeks, starting from just underneath his eyes and going all the way down to his neck. He used it as war paint. In 2024, after hitting a home run in the MLB London Series against the Mets, Harper hit a soccer-style knee slide on the turf, complete with his arms wide open while pumping up the crowd. 

But, about 10–15 years ago, that display of emotion wasn’t popular. MLB told him he couldn’t use gray bats, he couldn’t use eye-black. Eventually, now entering his 15th season in the major leagues, he stopped playing the game with as much passion and flair. Harper said he doesn’t really miss doing that stuff, because it wasn’t fun getting yelled at for showing his personality. 

“I kind of got pounded for it,” Harper said. “It got beat out of me a little bit, where I didn’t want to do it anymore. The game has changed, and I like that. I love the way that Ronald Acuña [Jr.] plays the game. I love the way that Tatis goes about it. [Shohei] Ohtani, obviously, brings his style of the game, too. Everybody has their certain style from different countries, and that’s why baseball is the greatest game in the world, because you bring so many different styles together, especially in this tournament. And it’s so much fun to watch.”

At times, it’s been difficult to understand the USA’s identity. Players salute each other in celebration. They’ve talked about how meaningful the tournament is to them after the sacrifices that service men and women have gone through to defend the country. While videos of Dominican Republic players dancing and being goofy in the clubhouse went viral, Team USA players were shown quietly listening to former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill delivering a pregame speech. 

As far as USA players are concerned, though, whatever they’re doing is working. They don’t need to match or copy someone else’s identity to win. 

“What we’re good at on our side is, if the crowd wants to be big and loud and all that, we will keep that steady heartbeat until the pop happens,” Crow-Armstrong said. “The Gunnar homer, the Roman [Anthony] homer. David Bednar getting out of a big inning. [Garrett] Whitlock shutting it down — three up, three down. I think we just pick our spots. You get to see us play our style, and that’s OK.

“We’ve carried ourselves this tournament the way that we wanted to, and that is feeling like we’re the best team in this tournament, the best team in the world.”

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Major League Baseball’s experiment of a robot umpire technology system allowing challenges to checked swing calls is moving up from Class A to Triple-A.

MLB will also test moving second base slightly to position it entirely within the infield, which would reduce by 9 inches the distance between first and second, and between second and third, according to a memorandum sent to teams last week.

It will try out reducing permissible disengagements by pitchers from two to one per plate appearance and stricter limits on batter timeouts and resetting the pitch clock for issues with PitchCom, the electronic signaling device that has been used since 2023.

There will also be a test allowing starting pitchers to re-enter games in the lowest level of the minor leagues. It’s not expected this test will lead to MLB implementation, but it’s being considered for the minors to improve development and player health by allowing more flexible workload management.

MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, the so-called robot umpire, launches when the season starts March 25 following tests that started in the minors in 2019. A batter, catcher or pitcher can appeal a ball/strike call by the human umpire under a system in which each team has two challenges and keeps its challenge if successful. Additional challenges become available to teams in extra innings.

An experiment began last May 20 in the Class A Florida State League allowing challenges to checked swing calls, and the test was extended to the Arizona Fall League.

Starting on May 5, the checked swing test will take expand to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in additional to the FSL.

“The batter, pitcher or catcher may also appeal the umpire’s decision regarding whether the batter swung at a pitch,” according to the memo from MLB vice president of on-field strategy Joe Martinez to general managers and other club executives. “A swing will be considered to have occurred if the maximum angle between the bat head and the bat handle exceeds 45 degrees.”

Martinez said the strikeout rate was cut by 3% during last year’s testing.

In addition, umpires at games in the Triple-A International League will be instructed to apply the 45-degree threshold for determining swings starting May 5. The Official Baseball Rules do not specify a standard for checked swings, stating only: “A strike is a legal pitch when so called by the umpire, which is struck at by the batter and is missed.”

Since 1976, the rules have said: “The manager or the catcher may request the plate umpire to ask his partner for help on a half swing when the plate umpire calls the pitch a ball, but not when the pitch is called a strike.”

Starting pitchers will be allowed to re-enter a game after being removed at the Arizona Complex League, Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. A removed starting pitcher is eligible to return if he threw at least 25 pitches during the inning he was removed, can return only at the start of an inning and may re-enter only once.

MLB enlarged bases to 18-inch squares from 15 in 2023, a change the led to more stolen bases because of a decreased distance of 4 1/2 inches between first and second, and second and third.

Second base has been centered on the exact spot of second, but the experiment in the International League will place it “entirely within the perimeter of the infield diamond during the second half” of the season.

Citing an increase in the average time of a nine-inning game from 2 hours, 36 minutes in 2024 to 2:38 last year and a decrease in stole base attempt success rate from 80.2% in 2023 to 77.8% last year, MLB will experiment with changes to pitch clock rules.

Teams at Triple-A will be assessed a mound visit if play is stopped for a PitchCom problem, and if a team is out of visits an automatic ball will be charged.

At all levels, the clock will not stop when a catcher leaves the catcher’s box to give defensive signals, and players other than the pitcher and coaches must leave the mound before the clock on mound visits runs out. A violation would result in an automatic ball.

At High A, batters will not be allowed to request time if the bases are empty and in Class A no timeouts will be allowed. Exceptions will be allowed for brush backs, possible injuries or equipment problems.

Allowed disengagements by pitchers from the rubber will be lowered from two to one at Double-A.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

On a night when All-Stars and future Hall of Famers thrilled fans and each other until the final out, Aaron Judge proclaimed the World Baseball Classic had grown into the sport’s biggest event.

“It’s bigger and better than the World Series,” the U.S. captain said after a 2-1 semifinal win over the Dominican Republic that came down to Sunday night’s final pitch. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.”

American tradition emphasizing understatement on a team led by Judge and Bryce Harper was showcased against Latin flair on a side featuring Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When Junior Caminero homered against Paul Skenes to put the Dominicans ahead in the second inning, he celebrated with an overhand bat flip.

[4 Takeaways: Team USA’s World Baseball Classic Win Over the Dominican Republic]

In the sixth tournament of an event that started in 2006, the game featured starting lineups featuring 17 All-Stars totaling 56 selections among the 20 starters. They had won five MVP awards, one Cy Young, five Rookies of the Year and three batting titles.

Before a crowd of 36,337 at IoanDepot Park, the U.S. overcame the deficit on fourth-inning home runs by Gunnar Henderson off Luis Severino and Roman Anthony against Gregory Soto.

Anthony, at 21 the youngest American player, had bought a ticket for the 2023 WBC final in Miami and watched from the seats as Japan beat the U.S. 3-2.

“Coming to the WBC here, you dream of representing this country and being here the next time around,” Anthony said.

American relievers allowed two hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, capped by Mason Miller topping 100 mph with 13 of 22 pitches. Miller’s last appeared to be low for ball four to Geraldo Perdomo but plate umpire Cory Blaser emphatically signaled strike three.

[Derek Jeter: Blown Call In WBC Semis ‘Pretty Much Guarantees’ ABS In Next Edition]

“Just a game we’ll remember forever, right?” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said. “We understood this was going to be a talked-about game, probably one of the most watched games of all time.”

Dynamic defense was commonplace.

With the U.S. trailing by a run in the third, Judge threw a 95.7 mph strike from right field to third base to cut down Fernando Tatis Jr. for the inning’s final out. Judge then made a diving backland catch to rob Soto, his former New York Yankees teammate, in the fourth.

Julio Rodríguez denied Judge a home run with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the fifth, 407 feet from the plate.

“I was like, OK, maybe we got a shot here,” Judge recalled. “But hit it to a guy like J-Rod, who’s one of the best if not the best center fielder in the game, he’s going make exciting plays like that in big moments.”

Shortstop Bobby Witt ranged to the right field side of the infield to snag Soto’s slow bouncer in the fifth, scrambled to back to touch second base and made an off-balance throw to first for an inning-ending double play. One inning later, Witt threw out Manny Machado at first from the outfield grass.

Pitching moments were memorable, too.

Dominican starter Luis Severino stranded runners at second and third in the third inning when he struck out Judge and Kyle Schwarber, and Skenes escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth when Austin Wells flied out.

[A-Rod Lauds USA’s Managing in Dominican Republic Win: ‘Mark DeRosa Pitched a Gem’]

Wells doubled with one out in the seventh and the relatively slow-footed catcher was held at third on Perdomo’s single to Crow-Armstrong in center. David Bednar then struck out Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte on breaking balls below the strike zone.

Before Miller got the strike three call in the ninth, Perdomo had fouled off a pair of full-count pitches.

“The whole world saw in two teams some of the best players in the game,” said Dominican manager Albert Pujols, a likely future Hall of Famer.

Rosters included 18 of the 41 players who received MVP votes last year.

Judge gave a postgame speech to teammates, looking ahead to Tuesday’s championship against Venezuela or Italy. He had perceived a special night Sunday from the start.

“You get chills standing there on the line, hearing them announce all the names,” he said. “It was like an All-Star team they got over there.”

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Mark DeRosa nearly cost Team USA the opportunity to advance to the knockout stage of the World Baseball Classic with some of his decisions in its loss to Italy. Now, Alex Rodriguez thinks the Team USA manager is the biggest reason why it’s playing in the final of the World Baseball Classic.

Rodriguez pointed to DeRosa as the catalyst for Team USA in its 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic in Sunday’s World Baseball Classic semifinal win.

“The one guy I want to give a shoutout to is Mark DeRosa,” Rodriguez said on the FS1 postgame show following Team USA’s win. “He has gotten absolutely hammered this week. And tonight, he made some brilliant moves — Gunnar Henderson, great defense and a big home run. And taking out Paul Skenes after 71 pitches and followed by a double play. 

“Mark DeRosa pitched a gem.”

Henderson hadn’t been in the starting lineup for much of the tournament, sitting behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Alex Bregman on the left side of the infield for all but one game. However, Sunday’s game presented an opportunity for Henderson to start thanks to his strong career numbers against Dominican Republic starting pitcher Luis Severino. Henderson had gone 7 for 9 in his career against Severino with a home run, double and four RBIs against the righty entering Sunday’s game.

By the end of Henderson’s second at-bat, he had added another homer against Severino. He took Severino’s sweeper 400 feet for a home run to help Team USA tie the game against the Dominican Republic in the fourth inning.

“Playing the hot hand right?” DeRosa told reporters prior to Sunday’s game. “Gunnar’s got numbers against Severino.”

Henderson had also hit well in a limited role during the tournament, going 5 for 10 with a homer in the first four games he played. Bregman, meanwhile, had gone 2 for 11 in the four games he played in so far in the tournament. 

As for DeRosa’s decisions with Skenes, starting him was a no-brainer considering that he was available to pitch Sunday’s game. However, he threaded the need on when to take him out, too. 

Skenes began to face his first serious trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning, when he allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte. Instead of having Skenes pitch to Mets’ star Juan Soto, DeRosa called on sidearm reliever Tyler Rogers to try and get out of the jam.

Rogers did that in just a matter of a few pitches. Soto grounded into an inning-ending double play, keeping Team USA’s lead at 2-1. 

DeRosa seemingly pressed all the right buttons with the bullpen for the rest of the night. Griffin Jax, David Bednar, Garrett Whitlock and Mason Miller didn’t allow a run in the final four innings, with only three Dominican Republic players getting on-base. 

Now, DeRosa’s USA squad is a win away from helping the program win its second World Baseball Classic. It’ll take on either Italy or Venezuela on Tuesday, with Mets’ righty Nolan McLean likely taking the mound.  

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Is the Automated Ball-Strike System coming to the next World Baseball Classic?

In the aftermath of the controversial strike call in Sunday night’s semifinal between the United States and the Dominican Republic that sent Team USA to the WBC final, Baseball Hall of Famer and FOX Sports analyst Derek Jeter has a strong suspicion that ABS will be implemented in the next edition of the international baseball tournament.

“You can pretty much guarantee they’re going to have the challenge system in place for the next WBC, right?” Jeter said. “You hate to end a game that way, but you give credit to the U.S. They not only pitched well, they hit the two home runs; they played great defense; the U.S. deserved to go to the finals.”

With a runner on third and Fernando Tatis Jr. on deck, Geraldo Perdomo was called for a strike on a pitch that was seemingly well below the strike zone to end the game. Due to there being no ABS at this year’s World Baseball Classic, the Dominican Republic was unable to challenge.

“If you call a strike on a 101-102 miles per hour pitch on top of the zone, you can’t go down there and call that pitch a strike also,” Baseball Hall of Famer and Dominican icon David Ortiz said. “You’re expanding the strike zone against batters facing a really good pitcher.”

The Dominican Republic was held to just one run against the U.S. after scoring 14 runs entering Sunday’s semifinal. Their 15 runs at this year’s tournament are the most by a single team in World Baseball Classic history.

“You just hate to end a game this big, with these types of consequences, on a pitch that’s not a strike,” World Series champion Alex Rodriguez said.

Team USA will play the winner of Italy-Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

It wasn’t a high-scoring semifinal affair, but Team USA is back into the World Baseball Classic championship game. 

Two solo home runs against the Dominican Republic in Sunday’s semifinal were enough to keep the USA on track toward winning the 2026 title. One more game left.

Who’ll be the opponent? It will be either Italy and Venezuela, who’ll play in the other semifinal game on Monday (8 p.m. ET on FS1).

Recapping Sunday’s action and taking a peek at Monday’s second semifinal game:

USA Into WBC Final, Holds Off Dominican Republic

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In a game filled with All-Stars, sluggers and home run machines, it was two solo shots by rather unlikely heroes that gave USA the 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic. 

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony each went yard in the fourth inning to respond after Junior Caminero’s solo shot in the first inning, which accounted for all the scoring in front of a rowdy and electric crowd at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.

Caminero’s shot was the 15th for Team D.R. at the tournament, setting a new record. 

Paul Skenes finished his Team USA duties with his start, where he went 4.1 innings pitched with one run given up. He goes 2-0 in the WBC after beating Mexico in the pool stage.

Mason Miller struck out three in the ninth – Caminero, Oneil Cruz and Geraldo Perdomo – to get the save. 

Espresso vs. Arepas: Italy Ready For Venezuela

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It’s been one of the best storylines in the World Baseball Classic. Fueled by a busy espresso machine and plenty of red wine. 

Italy’s WBC runs continues with Monday’s semifinal game against traditional powerhouse Venezuela, who took out the reigning champions Japan in the quarterfinals.

The battle on the mound for the game will be an MLB veteran against a budding youngster: Michael Lorenzen will start for Italy and Keider Montero for Venezuela.

A 34-year-old right-hander, Lorenzen pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in the group stage 8-6 upset of the United States on Tuesday.

“I faced him many times,’ said Italy manager Francisco Cervelli, a former big league catcher. “This is the perfect guy.”

Lorenzen, an All-Star in 2023, was 7-11 with a 4.64 ERA in 26 starts and one relief appearances for Kansas City last year, then became a free agent and signed an $8 million, one-year contract with Colorado. If Italy wins, Aaron Nola would be lined up to start Tuesday night’s final against the U.S. or the Dominican Republic.

Montero, a 25-year-old right-hander, pitched three scoreless innings of relief on Monday in a 4-0 first-round win over Nicaragua.

He made his big league debut on May 29, 2024, and was 5-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 12 starts and eight relief appearances last year for Detroit during a season in which he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo six times. Monero was 4-4 with a 5.91 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances for the Mud Hens.

Montero had three postseason appearances last year and got a save in the AL Division Series opener, an 11-inning win over Cleveland.

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