USA’s title defense meets 4-0 Venezuela for spot in semis (7 p.m. ET, FOX)
Venezuela went an ideal 4-0 in extremely anticipated Pool D competitors in Miami, staying atop the standings towards the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and Israel.
“That was a bear of a pool,” USA supervisor Mark DeRosa stated Friday. “So for them to go undefeated was pretty impressive. But no, [I’m] not shocked at all with the amount of talent that they have on that club. We’re fired up for the opportunity and happy to get on that plane to come here.”
“It’s just a matter of time, we thought, that the U.S. would be our rival on Saturday,” Venezuela supervisor Omar López stated Thursday. “And every coach individually started the preparation.”
Here’s what that you must learn about Saturday’s matchup:
When and the place: Saturday at 7 p.m. ET at loanDepot park in Miami.
How you possibly can watch: The sport between USA and Venezuela can be stay on FOX. Every sport might be streamed on-line within the FOX Sports App. For worldwide viewing choices, click on right here.
How you possibly can hear: Live audio protection of all video games can be carried on Sirius XM, TuneIn, MLB.com and within the MLB App.
What’s at stake: In a single-elimination spherical, the winner of this quarterfinal matchup will advance to face Cuba within the semifinals on Sunday evening. Venezuela most lately superior to the semifinals in 2009 earlier than falling to South Korea. USA superior to the semifinals in 2017 and went on to win the whole event towards Puerto Rico.
Matchup historical past: USA and Venezuela met within the second spherical within the 2017 World Baseball Classic. USA rallied for a three-run eighth inning — together with house runs by Adam Jones and Eric Hosmer — to win, 4-2.
Salvador Perez, C, Venezuela: Perez was named Pool D MVP after he went 5-for-10 on the plate in his first three video games. He drove in 5 runs and related for 3 doubles and a house run (.500/.545/1.100) throughout that stretch.
Mike Trout, CF, USA: Trout powered USA to a 3-2 victory over Colombia on Wednesday. He went 3-for-4 and drove in all of USA’s runs. Trout is slashing .417/.588/.833 in his first 4 WBC video games.
