Faced with the prospect of being swept in three games by Team World, Team USA came out victorious 12-5 in a must-win Game Three as their offense finally came to life.
A battle of the left-handers toed the rubber as Jorge De La Rosa and Mike Hampton battled it out at Coors Field. Both starters tossed three scoreless innings to start the game, but it would be De La Rosa that cracked first in the fourth. Nolan Arenado started off the fourth inning with a bang by slugging a towering home run to left field, his first of two home runs in the game. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Eric Young lined a single into centerfield to score Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holliday to make it a 3-0 lead.
De La Rosa lasted just four innings, allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts. He battled his command, as evidenced by the four walks allowed. Hampton on the other hand lasted 5 2⁄3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
Hampton had been perfect through 3 2⁄3 innings until Andrés Galarraga blasted a ball to right field to get Team World on the board. Miguel Olivio would later hit a leadoff triple in the sixth and subsequently score on a Willy Taveras sac fly. A continued short rally net Team World a couple more runs to trail 7-4 heading into the seventh inning.
However, Team USA’s offense continued the hit parade, as they pounded Jhoulys Chacín for three runs and Manny Corpas for two runs to finish the game by a score of 12-5. All Team USA batters, save Trevor Story, registered multiple hits, with Tulowitzki tallying three hits including a home run.
Team USA now eyes a second straight victory to force a series finale as they send Jon Gray to the mound to square off against Germán Márquez. Can Team USA keep the offensive momentum going against the current Rockies ace or will the might of Team World prove too much to overcome in our Rockies version of the World Baseball Classic?
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