After 39 games in 16 days in 6 different cities, the 2017 World Baseball Classic concludes tonight. The United States will battle Puerto Rico in the WBC championship game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The championship game will be televised by MLB Network at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will televise the title game in Spanish
This is the farthest Team USA has ever advanced in the WBC, in the title game by beating Japan 2-1 in Tuesday night’s semifinal. That was Japan’s only loss of this tournament. The win came three days after the United States beat the defending WBC champion Dominican Republic in San Diego.
Puerto Rico came close to winning the 2013 World Baseball Classic, falling in the title game to the Dominican Republic, who finished that tournament at 8-0. Now, Puerto Rico (7-0) is trying to become the second team to complete a WBC undefeated and make history as well.
“From defeat we learned, but we learned more from the great success we had in 2013,” Puerto Rico manager Edwin Rodriguez said Monday. “We have the talent, we have the staff, and we were able to execute the game and the plays as they should be executed. Then they were able to reach far, and that was what we learned the best.”
It took 11 innings on Monday night for Puerto Rico to outlast the Netherlands in the first WBC semifinal, a 4-3 game that was full of many exciting moments
These two teams met once already during this tournament, with Puerto Rico beating the United States 6-5 last Friday in a second-round matchup at Petco Park in San Diego.
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