By Chad Thornburg / MLB.com | +
SAN DIEGO--Puerto Rico punched its ticket to the World Baseball Classic semifinals in Los Angeles with a 6-5 win over the United States on Friday at Petco Park, remaining unbeaten in this year's tournament.
Puerto Rico, which finished as the runner-up in the 2013 Classic, will now join Japan and the Netherlands among the four nations competing at Dodger Stadium next week. The U.S. remains in the hunt, vying to reach the semifinals for just the second time in four Classic appearances. The team will be determined by Saturday evening's bout between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic at 10 p.m.
"This is an unbelievable win for us," Puerto Rico designated hitter
Carlos Beltran said. "The fact that we get the opportunity to go to the finals in L.A. really means a lot to us. So we're happy, and I know our people in Puerto Rico are very happy also."
Friday's result eliminated Pool F contender Venezuela, which will take on Puerto Rico on Saturday afternoon. That contest precedes the evening's main event at 3:30 p.m. ET in San Diego.
The United States battled back throughout the night and even threatened to erase Puerto Rico's lead in the ninth inning when Brandon Crawford’s two-RBI triple cut the deficit to one and put the tying run at third.
Mariners reliever Edwin Diaz extinguished the rally and clinched the victory by striking out Josh Harrison.
Puerto Rico hit the ground running for an early 4-0 lead with each of its first six batters reaching base on a single. A pivotal throwing error by U.S. third baseman Nolan Arenado in the sixth inning gave Puerto Rico the two runs it would need to endure the late American rally.
Seth Lugo earned the victory for Puerto Rico for his 5 2/3 innings of work. Lugo, who is competing for a spot in the Mets' rotation this spring, surrendered three runs and five hits, including both home runs.
Puerto Rico didn't waste any time getting its offense going when it began the game by building a four-run lead with six consecutive hits. Angel Pagan, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Beltran, Yadier Molina and Javier Baez each singled in the bottom of the first.
"That first inning was just incredible because it gave us so much confidence," Beltran said. "We went to the field with much moreintensity, and we were confident with each one of us."
Team USA starter Marcus Stroman, who held the Dominican Republic scoreless for 4 2/3 frames in the first round, has never surrendered more than five hits in a single inning in his Major League career. Stroman settled in after the first to hold Puerto Rico to two hits and a walk until his exit, two outs into the fifth.
Arenado gifted Puerto Rico a pair of runs in the sixth inning with a throwing error. The four-time Gold Glove Award winner hauled in a tough ground ball by Pagan that nearly skipped over his head but his throw was off the mark, hitting the dirt and taking a bad bounce past first baseman Eric Hosmer. The error turned a likely inning-ending out into a two-run boon for Puerto Rico as both Baez and Eddie Rosario scored on the play.
"That's just part of the game," Team USA manager Jim Leyland said. "That's the human element of baseball. You know, that's a great third baseman. I have no problem with that whatsoever."
Adam Jones came through late for the U.S. yet again with a solo homer that made it a one-run game in the sixth inning. Jones delivered the walk-off hit that propelled Team USA past Colombia in the first round in Miami last week and also hit a game-tying home run in Wednesday's victory over Venezuela.
The Orioles outfielder hasn't had much success early in games in this tournament, batting 1-for-11 with zero RBIs, but has been clutch in the sixth inning and later, when he's 5-for-9 with four extra-base hits and four RBIs.
Crawford's triple made the game interesting in the ninth as Team USA threatened to undo Puerto Rico's lead. With the tying run 90 feet from home plate, Diaz made Harrison whiff on an 86.6 mph slider that clinched his second save of the tournament.
Diaz, 22, is expected to serve as Seattle's closer this season after converting 18 of 21 save opportunities as a rookie last year.
