Puerto Rico Heads Back To WBC Championship Game

By ESPN

Puerto Rico will get one more chance to conquer the world as it heads back to the World Baseball Classic championship game.

Puerto Rico, the tournament’s runner-up four years ago, advanced to the title game again with a dramatic 4-3 victory in 11 innings over the Netherlands on Monday in a game that was decided on the tournament’s extra-inning rule.

Starting in the 11th inning, both teams are allowed a runner on first and second base to begin the inning. The Netherlands blew its chance after a sacrifice bunt and a double-play grounder by Curt Smith. Puerto Rico also tried a sacrifice bunt but won the game when Eddie Rosario followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored Carlos Correa.

Puerto Rico will face the winner of Tuesday’s semifinal game between the United States and Japan.

In the 2013 tournament, Puerto Rico ran into the buzz saw that was a Dominican Republic team that ended up going 8-0 en route to the title. Now Puerto Rico can do the same thing if it takes Wednesday’s title game.

"The aspect that highlights this team compared to 2013 truly is the talent," Puerto Rico manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "We have a bank of talent that is wider than in 2013. There are more options. Not only the ones in the lineup, but also we have more options in our reserve players, and that is a huge difference."

The tone was set by Puerto Rico catcher Yadier Molina, who threw out two baserunners in the first inning. The Netherlands took an early 2-0 lead in the first on a home run from Wladimir Balentin, but Puerto Rico came back to tie it on a two-run home run by Correa.

"The first thing we want to do when we're so intense is just to calm down, take control of the emotions and have the abilities take care of the game. In my case, I didn't feel any pressure," Correa said. "I just stood at third base and waited. When I'm batting, I didn't feel any pressure. Simply, when I feel that I'm all excited, I tried to calm down, breathe deep, and concentrate on what we're doing. This is something that we rehearse every day. So we will be able to do it well at the end."

In front of a mostly pro-Puerto Rico crowd of 24,865, both bullpens put on a classic duel. Before the deciding 11th inning, neither team had scored since the fifth, when the Netherlands tied it 3-3.

Monday, March 20 Scoreboard

Boston 7, Baltimore 4

Detroit 5, New York Mets 1

Miami 9, Atlanta 3

New York Yankees 9,  Washington 3

Pittsburgh 5, Tampa Bay 4

Minnesota 8, Toronto 2

San Francisco 3, Chicago White Sox 2

Cleveland 14, Los Angeles Dodgers 5

Cincinnati 10, Kansas City 6

Chicago Cubs 9, Colorado 6

St. Louis 12, Houston 6

Arizona 10, Oakland 6

San Diego 3, Texas 2

Tuesday, March 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Baltimore, 12:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Minnesota, 12:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 12:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 12:05 p.m.

Houston at Miami, 12:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Cincinnati, 3:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:05 p.m.

San Diego at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m.

Kansas City at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

Boston at New York Yankees, 5:35 P.M.

Chicago White Sox at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.