The US bounced back to move on.
Nolan Arenado and Buster Posey homered and drove in three runs apiece to help the US shake off a deflating defeat and earn a berth in the second round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) by beating Canada 8-0 on Sunday.
The US finished 2-1 in pool play and rebounded after blowing a five-run lead on Saturday and losing 7-5 to the Dominican Republic.
Photo: AFP
“Good teams know how to turn the page,” US manager Jim Leyland said. “The expectations for the USA are high and it’s a thrill to get out of here. It wasn’t easy.”
The US are trying for a WBC breakthrough after failing to reach the final in the three previous tournaments.
“We’re taking it real serious,” Arenado said. “We’re representing our country. It’s not just a walk in the park.”
The Dominican Republic also advanced to the second round in San Diego, California, by beating Colombia 10-3 in 11 innings
Canada went 0-3 and have never advanced beyond the opening round. Manager Ernie Whitt said he wished more major league players were willing to take part.
“For us to compete at this level, we have to have all of our professional players,” Whitt said. “We can’t put our roster up against teams like the Dominican [Republic] and the United States if we don’t have all of our big league players.”
The US have perhaps their best roster ever, including strong pitching, and Danny Duffy became the third consecutive starter to turn in a scoreless outing. He struck out seven in four innings.
Duffy, Chris Archer and Marcus Stroman combined for 12-2/3 scoreless innings in their starts.
“We feed off each other,” Duffy said.
The US relievers combined for five shutout innings after giving up nine runs in 9-1/3 innings in the first two games. Tyler Clippard retired all six batters he faced, striking out four.
Canada starter Ryan Dempster, who came out of retirement to pitch in the WBC, recorded one out and was charged with three runs.
“That was such an emotional game and hard-fought game,” Eric Hosmer of the US said. “From this point on the tournament gets tougher and tougher. We came here and took care of business, and we’re going to be ready for San Diego.”
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