For the first time in its history, the World Baseball Championship has gone to Team United States, with an 8-0 win tonight.
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/844775230778200064
Team Puerto Rico hadn’t lost in the tournament, and was runner-up last time around, too. It’s a bummer of an outcome for a team that, almost single-handedly, made the tournament so much fun.
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Speaking of which, of all the players, of course it was Ian Kinsler who got Team USA out to an early 2-0 with a long home run and a very appropriate circle of the bases:
First.
Ian Kinsler powers Team USA to an early advantage against Puerto Rico. https://t.co/nG611znQhP #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/pH1zdPQCzh
— WBC Baseball (@WBCBaseball) March 23, 2017
And that wound up being all that the boys in red, white, and blue needed. That’s primarily thanks to USA starter Marcus Stroman, who was fantastic, and didn’t even allow a hit until the 7th inning:
WHAT. AN. OUTING.@MStrooo6 dazzles on the #WBC2017 stage. https://t.co/QLphOphiqV pic.twitter.com/ch725sbOqk
— WBC Baseball (@WBCBaseball) March 23, 2017
Good. Good. pic.twitter.com/CAgji1s18c
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) March 23, 2017
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The atmosphere for the game was fantastic, and the crowd was very into it:
A world-class atmosphere. A world-class game. https://t.co/0Kwmdl4fSJ #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/7DESzniQNI
— MLB (@MLB) March 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/844759113053614081
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As were the players after the final out:
https://twitter.com/USABaseball/status/844775087278440448
Team USA loves its weird eagle statue. pic.twitter.com/unvhRh4vSZ
— Jon Tayler (@JATayler) March 23, 2017
It was basically a forgettable outing for Javy Baez (and his teammates), which is a shame for a variety of reasons. To be clear, it happens, and it’s just one game, and whatever. No big deal. But I’m just saying that … damn, tonight’s game would have been a fantastic one for Baez and his teammates to really blow up and show it all off. We’ll always have that Netherlands semifinal game.
That wraps up the WBC for this year. The Major League Baseball season kicks off in about 10 days, and you’ll have some residual Spring Training to tide you over until then.
And the 2021 World Baseball Classic is just, well, four years away …
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If you want to celebrate Team USA's win in the WBC, there's championship gear now available: https://t.co/8rXn0GTVKY pic.twitter.com/neQH1I9Kxz
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) March 23, 2017