Entering play on Sunday, the United States needed a victory over Canada in order to advance to the next round of the World Baseball Classic. Their neighbors to the north had already been eliminated but were playing for pride having gone winless in their first two games.
Longtime Chicago Cubs hurler and 16-year major league vet Ryan Dempster received the start for Canada. Newly-extended Kansas City Royals lefty Danny Duffy took the hill for the United States.
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Duffy began the game by striking out the side in the first. Then, the vaunted United States offense wasted no time pouncing all over Dempster.
In the home half of the first the U.S. sent nine men to the plate, using three hits and three walks to plate three runs. Dempster lasted just six batters before being replaced by Andrew Albers.
In the second, Duffy again retired the side in order before watching the offense post another crooked number. This time the U.S. didn’t quite hit around but did push four runs across, three of which came on a Nolan Arenado home run.
For the remainder of the game, both teams mostly just traded zeroes with a seventh inning solo shot by Buster Posey the only additional scoring by either squad.
The final score was 8-0. Canada fell to 0-3 and officially ended their WBC run. The United States improved to 2-1 and moved on to the next round.
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Though the Canadian team does have a considerable amount of big league talent, the United States pitching staff absolutely dominated. Duffy finished with an impressive line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.
After that, Mychal Givens, Tyler Clippard, Jake McGee, and Nate Jones combined to throw five scoreless innings allowing just three base runners (two hits, one walk).
As a unit, the U.S. pitchers issued just one free pass while striking out 15.
The United States will play their next game on Wednesday. Their opponent will be the winner of tonight’s Italy-Venezuela match-up.
Scott Ferris covers all things baseball as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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