On a rainy Tuesday night, Chavez Ravine was the site of the most pivotal World Baseball Classic game ever for Team USA. Coming into the 2017 WBC, the United States played .500 baseball. The team has performed better this time around, but a large obstacle still lay in front: Samurai Japan. The premise of the semifinal matchup against the undefeated Japanese team was simple: win and move on to the championship game or go home.<\/p>\n
Versatile Washington Nationals\u00a0righty Tanner Roark<\/a><\/strong> earned the nod from manager Jim Leyland<\/a><\/strong> to start against Japan. Keeping with the theme of dominant USA starting pitching, Roark cruised through four scoreless innings. He finished the night with two hits allowed, one walk and one strikeout over those four innings.<\/p>\n An error by Japanese second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi<\/a><\/strong> to leadoff the fourth inning allowed Christian Yelich<\/a><\/strong> to reach safely. Two batters later, Andrew McCutchen<\/a><\/strong> drove a single to left field to score Yelich and give Team USA an early 1-0 lead on Japan.<\/p>\n After Team USA reliever Nate Jones<\/a><\/strong> recorded four-straight outs from the start of the fifth, Kikuchi came to the plate with a chance at redemption. He then proceeded to lace a Jones pitch over the right field wall (literally inches over McCutchen\u2019s glove to tie the game at one apiece.<\/p>\n Jones was relieved by Andrew Miller<\/a><\/strong> and Sam Dyson<\/a><\/strong>, who combined for 1.2 scoreless innings leading up to the eighth inning.<\/p>\n The score remained until Team USA\u2019s bats woke up in the top of the eighth. Following hits by Brandon Crawford<\/a><\/strong> and Ian Kinsler<\/a><\/strong>, Adam Jones<\/a><\/strong> came up with runners at second and third. Jones broke his bat and hit a slow roller to Japanese third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda<\/a><\/strong> as he slipped on the wet infield grass, allowing Kinsler to score.<\/p>\n The 2-1 score would hold as new San Francisco Giants closer Mark Melancon<\/a><\/strong>, who joined the roster just this week, and Pat Neshek<\/a><\/strong> worked around a couple of base runners during a scoreless eighth inning.<\/p>\n With the win, Team USA is scheduled to appear in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Championship Game against Puerto Rico on Wednesday. Marcus Stroman<\/a><\/strong> is the scheduled starter for Leyland\u2019s squad.<\/p>\nUSA Draws First Blood<\/h3>\n
Kikuchi\u2019s Delivery Service<\/h3>\n
Americans Answer Back<\/h3>\n
Championship Game<\/h3>\n