DAIKIN PARK (Houston) – As Team USA quashed a late charge from Canada on Friday night, Paul Skenes had already started the process of preparing for a seemingly indomitable machine.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, the best hope the United States has of getting back to the World Baseball Classic final, took off early to get ready for his Sunday start in Miami where a juggernaut will be waiting.
“I expect it to be, like, one of the best games of all time,” USA manager Mark DeRosa said ahead of the star-studded semifinal matchup against the Dominican Republic.
Despite fielding the most talented roster it has ever assembled, Team USA got to this point by surviving rather than thriving. The U.S. held on late against Mexico, lost to Italy and needed help to advance out of pool play, then held on for life again against its neighbors to the north.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic has steamrolled its way through the competition, dancing and bat-flipping and swim-moving and soaring and soaking in every minute of a tournament that so outwardly and obviously means the world to its players. Julio Rodriguez even said it would mean more to win the World Baseball Classic than the World Series.
“It’s exciting,” Aaron Judge said of the Dominican style of play. “I know the fans definitely love it. But I try not to look at what other teams are doing, other people are doing. I’m focused on what we got here. We’ve got a special group of guys that love to play this game, they’re excited to be in this room, they’re all honored to be in this room, and they’re not taking it for granted.”
The U.S. players say they’re having fun, too, even if it’s not as obvious, even if the wins aren’t as convincing and even if every game is changing the color of their pitching coach’s head. The latest survival was a 5-3 win, during which Canada put the tying runners in scoring position in the seventh.
“I’m telling everybody, my hair might start falling out I think,” said Andy Pettitte. “It’s all turning gray. But it’s fun.”
Is it?
“I mean, I’m trying to have fun,” Pettitte, a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees, said. “I’m not going to lie, it’s tough. With what we’re doing and how we’re trying to do things and trying to talk through this and figure it out, it’s not easy, but it’s fun, and we knew what we were getting into when we accepted this. The guys have been amazing. I hope they’re having fun. I’m enjoying it.”
Pettitte’s hair isn’t likely to get any thicker with the opponent on deck.
Just as the U.S. is attempting to avenge its performance three years ago, Team D.R. is looking to do the same. The Dominican Republic won the tournament in 2013 but was bounced in the second round in 2017 and didn’t make it out of pool play in 2023.
It has started this tournament with a vengeance, pulverizing every pitching staff it has faced. Team D.R. went 4-0 in pool play and entered the quarterfinals with the best run differential in the tournament. The unrelenting behemoth of a lineup has scored 51 runs in five games — and that’s while mercy-ruling two of their opponents in seven innings.
“They’re one of the greatest countries in the world at baseball,” said Bryce Harper. “They’re young. They’re talented. One through nine in that lineup, they can all go deep. They can all hit for average.”
“We know what type of team they’ve got over there,” added Judge. “Incredible offense, incredible pitching staff, bullpen, everything is just top notch.”
On Friday, the Dominican Republic shut out its latest victim. Austin Wells’ three-run shot triggered a run rule in the seventh against Korea and gave the Dominican Republic the 10-0 win and its 14th home run of the WBC, already tying a tournament record.
Team USA, meanwhile — with a lineup that many expected to be similarly formidable — has hit half as many homers and scored 11 fewer runs than Team D.R. in the same number of games. The U.S. didn’t hit any home runs in its win on Friday, though Harper had a 416-foot flyout and Alex Bregman and Cal Raleigh both narrowly missed home runs on deep foul balls.
“If we’re going to win this tournament like we all believe we’re going to, it’s going to take more than home runs,” Judge said. “There’s times we’re not hitting home runs, we’ve got to play small ball, we’ve got to move runners, we’ve got to do different things just to create some offense.”
Added Bregman: “We’ll get it dialed in.”
DeRosa said he doesn’t see “any crazy changes taking place” with the lineup and believes in the group he has. On the mound, he’ll have perhaps the only person left in the tournament capable of giving the Dominican Republic lineup a challenge.
Skenes, who threw 60 pitches in four scoreless innings in USA’s win against Mexico, is projected to have a pitch limit of around 75 to 80, though that number is subject to change.
“He wanted the ball,” Pettitte said. “Before he left today, we were out there talking — man, he’s wanting to get to Sunday — and of course all of us were praying we’d be able to get there and have an opportunity to do this. He’s a special human being, a special kid, and he’s looking forward to it, I know. It’s going to be a great game.”
Added Judge: “I like any game that Paul Skenes pitches.”
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