Team USA stuns Puerto Rico 8-0 to claim first World Baseball Classic championship
Team USA pulled off a decisive win in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, stunning Team Puerto Rico to claim the WBC title.
It was a huge night for Team USA as it made history with an 8-0 shutout victory over Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. With the win, Team USA claims its first World Baseball Classic title ever.
Team USA had already made history by defeating the Dominican Republic in the second round of the World Baseball Classic. The unprecedented run continued after defeating Japan in the semifinal game to play Puerto Rico in the championship game. And what a game it was.
Both teams held each other in check through the first couple of innings until an Ian Kinsler 402-foot homer drove in two runs to make the score 2-0. In the 5th inning, Christian Yelich sent a ball into right field for a single, scoring Kinsler. Then Andrew McCutchen sent a short hop to shortstop but beat the throw, scoring Yelich. Team USA finished the frame with a 4-0 lead.
Puerto Rico got into some trouble after that, loading the bases. By the 7th inning, a Brandon Crawford single to right scored Nolan Arenado and Eric Hosmer, with McCutchen landing on third. Giancarlo Stanton then sent a ball to left field, scoring McCutchen and bringing the score to 7-0.
It was McCutchen again in the 8th inning who reached on an infield single, scoring Arenado to bring the score to 8-0 on a Javier Baez throwing error.
By the 7th inning, Puerto Rico had exhausted five pitchers while Team USA finally brought Marcus Stroman out of the game after six shutout innings. The shutout would continue through the 9th inning as Puerto Rico continued to change their pitching to stave off Team USA late in the game, but there was no catching the Americans.
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The championship game helped break a World Baseball Classic attendance record with over a million fans over the course of the tournament. A final tally of 51,565 fans watched Team USA reach a historic milestone at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.