World Baseball Classic 2017: Bracket, Thursday’s schedule, and scores

The World Baseball Classic seems to have been all about late inning runs. Venezuela, who made a habit of piling on runs against opposing bullpens during Pool D play, fell victim to a comeback at the hands of the United States last night in San Diego, 4-2. The Rockies’ Carlos González had a hit and scored Venezuela’s first run in the third inning, while Nolan Arenado went 0-for-4 in the game, dropping his WBC line to 1-for-15 with a home run. Nolan did start a nifty game-ending double play while shifted into short right field, so at least there’s that.

The game was a tense pitcher’s dual for most of the game. The Mariners’ Félix Hernández got the start for Venezuela and effectively shut down the US roster to the tune of five shutout innings while allowing just three hits with three strikeouts. His new teammate Drew Smyly was just as impressive for the Americans, going 4²⁄₃ while allowing one unearned run on three hits with eight (8!) strikeouts. With the score 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Orioles outfielder and San Diego native Adam Jones hit a leadoff home run off Héctor Rondon to knot up the score. Three batters later the much-maligned Eric Hosmer knocked a two-run homer to take the lead for good.

Tonight, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic try to gain the upper hand in what will surely be a competitive Group F. Both coming off losses in their first games, the DR will send Edinson Vólquez to the mound while Venezuela will rely on old friend Jhoulys Chacin to avoid going 0-2.

Don’t count Mexico’s Adrián González a fan of the WBC—at least not anymore. After Mexico was mathematically eliminated from contention due to a controversial tiebreaker rule, Gonzalez told reporters he would not participate again, saying, “They're trying to become the World Cup, but they're not even close to being the Little League World Series.” Maybe that’s because in the Little League World Series everybody gets a trophy, [frog emoji] [tea emoji].

Pool F schedule for Thursday, March 16

Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic

Location: Petco Park, San Diego, California

Time: 7 pm MT

TV: MLB Network

Steaming: MLV.tv

Second Round

Championship Round