The American baseball magazine ‘Baseball America’ (BA) ranked the Dominican Republic as the number 0 candidate for the championship ahead of the opening of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). This is because the pitching staff, including Manny Machado, Juan Soto (above San Diego), and Rafael Devers (Boston), as well as Sandy Alcantara (Miami), who won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award last year, were also strong. Local gamblers also predicted that the Dominican Republic would win.
But baseball was unknown. The Dominican Republic, which made up a super luxurious member, was humiliated by being eliminated in the first round. The Dominican Republic fell to Puerto Rico 2-5 on the 16th in the last group D match held at Londippo Park in Miami, Florida. This match was a so-called ‘guillotine match’ in which the winning team advanced to the quarterfinals and the losing team was eliminated in the first round.
Led by legendary catcher Yadier Molina (former St. Louis), who retired last year, Puerto Rico has dominated the Dominican Republic ever since scoring four runs with a home run by Christian Vazquez (Minnesota), the lead hitter, in the top of the third inning.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Soto hit a 1-run home run over the middle wall, but in the top of the 5th, Francisco Lindor (New York Mets) took advantage of the opponent’s defensive mistake and scored a valuable key point. After hitting a hit in front of the center fielder, Lindor went around all the bases and went home while opponent center fielder Julio Rodriguez (Seattle) missed the ball. In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Dominican Republic only managed to follow up with one run as Machado retreated with a double stroke in front of the shortstop in the chance to load the bases safely.
Coach Molina, who participated in the WBC as a player in 2013 and 2017 and won runner-up in both, challenges to win in this competition, which is his debut as a leader. I can’t be too happy about that. Team closer Edwin Dias (New York Mets) injured his right leg while celebrating victory with his teammates after the game. The exact site and extent of the injury are not known, but he was not in good condition enough to leave in a wheelchair. Dias signed a five-year, $102 million (approximately 133.7 billion won) contract with the Mets at the end of last year, the highest ever for a closer. Puerto Rico will face off with Mexico, the first place in Group C, at the same place on the 18th at 8:00 am for a ticket to the semifinals.
Another candidate for the championship,토토사이트 the United States won 3-2 in the last game of the Group C group stage against Colombia and confirmed their advance to the quarterfinals by finishing second in the group. Mike Trout (LA Angels) made a big success with 3 hits and 3 RBIs in 4 at-bats, including a preemptive timely hit and a come-from-behind 2 RBIs and a timely hit. The U.S. opponent in the quarterfinals is Venezuela, which ranks first in Group D.