Team USA went into Wednesday’s game against Colombia knowing that a win will lead them to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. From a lineup packed with superstars and some Hall Of Famers, captain, Mike Trout took the lead, going 3-for-4 with all three RBIs as the US secured its ticker to Miami in its journey to becoming the last team standing through a 3-2 victory.
“I just think he’s one of the best players of all time at the end of the day,” manager Mark DeRosa said when speaking on Trout. “He was coming off 16, 17 at-bats in Spring Training and no one is in midseason form like that, but I think some of these games that we played – Mexico woke us up. He had some great ABs in the Canada game. That bullet he hit to right to start it off was pretty special. He looks really good at the dish. He’s just super confident in what he’s able to do.”
The bullet in question, came after the first inning at Chase Field, a 112.5 mph laser that tore its way to the right-centre-field, fence. Trout moved to third, setting the tone for the next two times he appeared on the dish: an RBI single in the third that declared the scoring open and a two-run knock in the fifth that put Team USA ahead.
Trout alongside Mookie Betts has successfully created a dynamic tandem that sits at the top of the USA orders. Betts deployed a multi-hit performance in his own right. All four balls Mookie hit were “hard hit” (north of 95+ mph), and he benefitted immensely from a Trout run-scoring knock.
“All I gotta do is get on base and I’ve got him behind me,” Betts said. “I know I’m going to get pitches to hit, they don’t want to walk me to get to him with somebody on base. It’s just fun when you take off the uniform and you play for your boy.”
Next up, Team USA will play Venezuela (Sat, 7 p.m ET, FOX), which has made its way through Pool D. Going forward, all 2023 World Baseball Classic games will be single elimination contests, meaning the U.S. needs three straight wins if they want to become back-to-back champions.
In 2013, the moniker “Captain America’’ was attached to David Wright for acting as a powerhouse for the U.S. offense during the World Baseball Classic. Now in 2023, the new captain is another fan favourite in the person of Mike Trout. Trout has converted a historic assembly of talents with the hope of becoming back-to-back champions on the global stage.
For four games, the numbers between the two have drawn parallels:
- Wright: 7-for-16, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 438/.526/.750
- Trought: 5-for-12, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, .419/.588/.833
“I knew signing up the atmosphere was going to be electric,” Trout said. “I talked to [Adam] Wainwright about this during the game [against] Canada. This is the funnest experience I’ve had on a baseball field – to represent your country. It’s been a blast.
“Hearing ‘U-S-A’ chanted in the ninth inning, you look in the stands and people are waving the American flag – it means a lot to all of us. To play for our country, it’s been really fun.”
All the focus on the All-Stars, Silver Sluggers and MVPs, that dot the starting nine, has shifted attention from the fact that Team USA has a squad that is packed with fireballers and shut-down arms. In a one-run affair, Kendall Graveman, Daniel Bard, David Bednar, Jason Adam, Devin Williams, and Ryan Pressley held the line, holding down Colombia’s lineup to only two singles with nine strikeouts over six dominating frames.
“It comes down to the players. You can sit up all night and script it, plan it – they got to execute,” DeRosa said. “Could they have done [any] better? Devin Williams threw one [prior] pitch the entire pool play and looked midseason form out there. David Bednar’s heater is exploding. Jason Adam’s got electric weapons to go to. It was nice to see Bard bounce back. And Pressly’s been in the biggest moments in the big leagues the last seems like five, six years. Just awesome domination and execution by those guys.”
For Colombia, the 1-3 defeat marks a disheartening end to a 2023 World Baseball Classic they started with promise. Despite a lone victory over the winners of Pool C (Mexico, 3-1), the Team will enter the qualifying stage with the hope of returning to the tournament in 2026. Great Britain, (1-3), which earned a spot in Arizona, has qualified for the next iteration of the WBC after winning against Colombia on Monday.
The level of experienced Major League players in Team USA’s roster was challenging for all four opposing managers to fight through pool play. Jolbert Cabrera Colombian skipper was proud of his team’s performance and looks to continue contributing to the growth of baseball in his home country. Cabrera described what it felt like competing with a squad that has the type of skillset America has.
“Today’s game, you are fighting against a monster with 15 heads,” Cabrera said via an interpreter. “You cut one down, two more come out and replace the old one.”
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