03/17/26 10:55:00
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03/17 22:53 CDT U.S. falls short again in WBC final as Venezuela stuns
star-studded roster
U.S. falls short again in WBC final as Venezuela stuns star-studded roster
By ALANIS THAMES
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI (AP) --- Aaron Judge walked slowly back and forth in the United States'
dugout on Tuesday night while Venezuelan players shed tears and fell to their
knees to celebrate the country's first World Baseball Classic title.
Other players from the Americans' $320 million roster stood frozen for several
minutes before finally leaving the field.
Team USA brought its most loaded roster ever to baseball's premier
international event, but the Americans lost their second straight WBC final
after winning the championship in 2017.
The U.S. produced just three hits on Tuesday and four runs over the final two
games of the WBC --- well short of offensive expectations for a roster of
players who combined for 382 home runs and 1,111 RBIs last MLB season.
Three years after losing to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023, the Americans were
again disappointed, this time by an energetic Venezuelan team led by All-Stars
Ronald Acua Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodrguez mowed down the Americans' fearsome lineup with
measured ease on Tuesday, leaving the colorful celebration to his teammates who
met him with claps as he stoically exited the mound in the fifth.
Rodrguez fanned Judge --- the U.S. captain went 0 for 4 --- twice among four
strikeouts and held the Americans to just one hit over 5 1/3 innings.
The Venezuelan bullpen gave up just two hits from there, including Bryce
Harper's tying, two-run homer over the center-field fence against Andrs
Machado in the eighth.
Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth and pinch-runner
Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith's throw, then came
home on Eugenio Surez double. Surez spread his arms wide and pointed to the
sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at
the plate.
It signaled another brutal finish could be coming for the U.S., which lost the
2023 WBC title game when Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to win it for Japan.
The American roster was made up of players who have combined for more than
2,300 home runs and 419 saves, and nine of them have played in a World Series.
But they never quite displayed the full extent of their offensive firepower.
They hit .250 over seven games with 44 runs, 10 homers and 40 RBIs.
After the U.S. beat the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the semifinals, manager Mark
DeRosa said he was still waiting for his team to explode offensively.
That will have to wait another three years.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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