By Ian Curtis.
Clutch relievers carry Team USA to 5-3 win over rival Canada in Quarterfinals
Far from the trademark explosiveness that it showed in pool play, Team USA grabbed an early 3-0 lead over Canada, but it did so relatively quietly.
Sure, Aaron Judge — this World Baseball Classic’s “Captain America,” as he has been dubbed — did have a double in the first inning that got the crowd in Houston riled up. But the only run of the first inning came off of a groundout by Kyle Schwarber, and hometown hero Alex Bregman added two runs in the third inning thanks to an infield single that was aided by a throwing error.
No sign of the homers with which the Americans had made a statement in their earlier games — despite a few foul shots being just feet away from dingers.
In fact, Team USA was held homerless against their northern rivals. But Judge said that the Americans’ ability to find other ways to score was a testament to their offense.
“Yeah, if we’re going to win this tournament, like we all believe we’re going to, it’s going to take more than home runs,” Judge said. “If there’s times where we’re not getting home runs, we’ve gotta play small ball, we’ve gotta move runners, we gotta do different things just to create some offense. … I think it’s just trusting each other, and if we’re not hitting homers then we gotta figure out ways to get runs like we did in the first.”
That lack of offensive firepower nearly came back to bite the Americans in the seventh inning, when Team Canada was able to advance the tying run to second thanks to a pair of singles and a wild pitch, all with no outs.
But Team USA reliever David Bednar was able to hold on, recording a pair of strikeouts and escaping the jam to roaring chants of “U-S-A!” and a standing ovation from the Daikin Park crowd.
That scare seemed to wake up both the crowd and Team USA itself, which quickly posted three outs in the eighth inning before reliever Mason Miller struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to seal the USA’s spot in the WBC Semifinals in Miami.
“It’s nice to call down to the bullpen and know you’ve got closers coming in in all three innings,” Team USA Manager Mark DeRosa said. “Bed was here in 2023 with me. So I know what’s inside his heart. He’s a gamer. And Garrett Whitlock is unbelievable, righty and lefty. And Mason Miller, we were talking about it on the walk down, that’s the best fastball you’re ever going to see. So, yeah, it’s nice to get in the bullpen and call David Ross and know exactly where you’re going.”
With hockey on its mind, Canada’s rally falls just short
It’s impossible to approach the matchup between Team USA and Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals at Daikin Park in Houston without acknowledging the elephant in the room.
Even if that elephant resides a month and an ocean away.
Signs of USA Hockey’s gold medal victory — in overtime, no less — at the Winter Olympics in Milan were everywhere before the matchup on the diamond. USA Hockey jerseys — both Jack Hughes jerseys from these Olympics and more classic “Miracle on Ice” era outfits – dotted the stands amidst a sea of red, white and blue baseball jerseys.
But perhaps most prominently it was present in the form of Canadian hockey jerseys — a gift from Canada Hockey — that the Canadians wore during warmups, and in the minds of the Canadian players and coaches themselves after receiving messages from Canada Hockey before the game.
“I think not only myself, but I think the entire country of Canada would be extremely happy,” Canada manager Ernie Whitt said when asked about how a win on the diamond would avenge the gold medal loss. “I think we’ve got a pretty good following.”
And while at first it looked like the diamond edition of the North American rivalry might go the way of the day’s other quarterfinal — where the Dominican Republic run-ruled Team Korea in Miami — the Canadians showed a bit of hockey-inspired fight in the middle innings.
After back-to-back RBI hits from Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong put the USA up 5-0 in the sixth inning, Canada quickly took advantage of American relievers Brad Keller and Gabe Speier, who combined for 1.1 innings pitched while giving up two hits and three runs. They came in after starter Logan Webb pitched 4.2 scoreless innings.
Canada got on the board with a Tyler Black RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth, before Bo Naylor’s two-run shot 404 feet to right center field had some USA fans in the crowd stressing.
But after the rest of Team USA’s relievers were able to hold the Canadians at bay, the thoughts of Whitt and the other representatives of Team Canada turned to how to evaluate a historic run — Canada won its pool and advanced to the WBC quarterfinals for the first time — with an oh-so-close ending.
“Well, we were hoping that there was going to be another game,” Whitt said. “But again, I’ll be reflecting on this for probably a couple of months. Looking back and having your time, when you’re with yourself, you gather your thoughts and what if and what if and what if, but if you continue to do that, you’ll drive yourself crazy. I thought we represented the country well, and I don’t think we have anything to hang our head on. I told the boys to walk proudly.”