{"id":4392,"date":"2017-03-18T01:54:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T05:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=4392"},"modified":"2017-03-18T15:41:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T19:41:44","slug":"puerto-rico-defeats-team-usa-6-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2017\/03\/18\/puerto-rico-defeats-team-usa-6-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico Defeats Team USA 6-5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Team USA<\/strong> entered their Pool F game against Puetro Rico<\/strong> hoping to remain undefeated in San Diego and move that much closer to the final round of the World Baseball Classic<\/strong> in Los Angeles. Unfortunately what was a strong point for Team USA throughout the whole tournament became its kryptonite on Friday.<\/p>\n

Puerto Rico Defeats Team USA 6-5<\/h2>\n

Stroman\u2019s Woes<\/h3>\n

Toronto Blue Jays<\/strong>\u00a0ace Marcus Stroman<\/a><\/strong> last pitched in the WBC against the Dominican Republic in Pool C, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings. He looked to keep that pace going on Friday, but Puerto Rico\u2019s hitters had other ideas. PR began the game with six-straight hits and took a commanding 4-0 lead after one. Stroman then settled down, throwing three scoreless innings. This outing marked the first time a starting pitcher from Team USA has allowed an earned run, breaking a streak of 17.1 innings without doing so.<\/p>\n

Controversy and Errors<\/h3>\n

After putting a run on the board, solo homers by Buster Posey<\/a><\/strong> and Adam Jones<\/a><\/strong> decreased Puerto Rico\u2019s lead to 4-3, but were sandwiched by a bit of controversy. Home Plate Umpire Will Little, who made no friends from the Dominican with his strike zone two days ago, tossed Andrew McCutchen<\/a><\/strong> after he argued a third strike call.<\/p>\n

An ensuing throwing error by Nolan Arenado<\/a><\/strong> would give Puerto Rico two more runs, making a 6-3 lead that would hold until some drama in the ninth.<\/p>\n

Ninth Inning Comeback<\/h3>\n

Facing Edwin Diaz<\/a><\/strong> with two on in the ninth, Brandon Crawford<\/a><\/strong> laced a two-run triple into the left-center field gap, making the score 6-5. Replay showed Crawford was, in fact, tagged out by Carlos Correa<\/a><\/strong> at third, but lack of replay in this round proved to be a blessing for the Americans. Josh Harrison<\/a><\/strong> came up with two outs as the go ahead run, but struck out to end the rally and the game.<\/p>\n

Team USA\u2019s next game is scheduled for Saturday against the Dominican Republic, with the winner clinching a spot in Los Angeles. Puerto Rico\u2019s win tonight eliminated Venezuela from contention.<\/p>\n

Should the one game play-in Wild Card be expanded to a three game series?<\/a> in LastWordOnSports’s Hangs<\/a> on LockerDome<\/a><\/span>