Defending WBC champion, the United States, advanced to the championship game for the second year in a row after defeating Cuba 14-2 in the semifinals. Trea Turner hit two home runs to lead the Americans, with Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also contributing home runs. In the championship game, the US will face either Japan or Mexico, hoping to become the second nation to win the WBC title twice.
During the game against Cuba, the US allowed Cuba’s first four batters to score but were able to recover and dominate the rest of the game. The game was briefly interrupted in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings when fans ran onto the field. Before the game, there were protests outside the stadium against the Cuban team, whose national team has struggled recently as many of its top players left for MLB.
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On Sunday night, the United States completely dismantled Cuba in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) semifinal, winning 14-2 and securing their place in the championship game for the second year in a row. Trea Turner led the way for the Americans, hitting two home runs, which gave him a tournament-leading four, including a three-run drive that propelled the US to a chance to defend its crown.
In addition to Turner’s outstanding performance, Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also homered for the Americans, who scored in seven of eight innings, putting up crooked numbers in five of them. Turner and Goldschmidt each had four RBIs. Cuba briefly went ahead when its first four batters reached off Adam Wainwright without getting a ball out of the infield, but the 41-year-old right-hander recovered to strand the bases loaded.
Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the first on a 112 mph rocket high over the left-field wall. He added a two-run single in the fifth. St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado left after he was hit on a hand by a pitch in the fifth inning, but X-rays came back as negative.
The US will play Japan or Mexico in Tuesday night’s championship, hoping to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to win the title twice. Turner, hitting No. 9 in the batting order, has a tournament-leading 10 RBIs. He followed his go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam a night earlier against Venezuela with a solo homer in the second inning off Roenis Elias and a three-run drive in the sixth against Elian Leyva.
LoanDepot Park in Miami was filled with a sellout crowd of 35,779, with fans sounding evenly split between the US and Cuba. However, several hundred people gathered before the game outside the ballpark in Miami’s Little Havana section to protest the presence of the Cuban team, whose island nation has been under communist rule since 1959.
Play was briefly interrupted in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings when fans ran onto the field. The first held a banner that read ‘Libertad Para Los Presos Cubanos del 11 de Julio’ (Freedom for the Cuban Prisoners of July 11) referring to the date of 2021 demonstrations. The defending WBC champion United States will be looking forward to the championship match with great anticipation.
Cuba came out strong in their game against the United States in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), with their first four batters stringing together three infield hits and a bases-loaded walk off US pitcher Adam Wainwright. Despite this, the US was able to recover, and Wainwright allowed only one run and five hits in four innings before being replaced by his Cardinals teammate Miles Mikolas, who pitched the final five innings.
In the first inning, US catcher Will Smith made a great defensive play, retiring Cuba’s third baseman Yoan Moncada at home plate. Trea Turner hit a solo homer in the second inning off Roenis Elias before adding a three-run drive in the sixth inning. The game was briefly interrupted in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings when fans ran onto the field.
Before the game, there were protests outside the stadium against the Cuban team, whose national team has struggled in recent years as many top players left for MLB. However, Cuba is now using some players under contract with MLB clubs, including Chicago White Gold Glove centerfielder Luis Robert and third baseman Yoán Moncada. Former All-Star outfielder Yoenis Céspedes is also on the roster.
This was the first meeting between Cuba and the US in the WBC, although they played against each other in the 2008 Olympics, where Cuba beat manager Davey Johnson’s Americans 5-4 in 11 innings en route to a silver medal. The US took home the bronze medal.
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