The US will face Puerto Rico for the second time Friday in an elimination match-up to determine the final team to advance to the Championship Round. Gio Gonzalez and the US pitching staff shut down the Puerto Rican offense the first time around -- leading to a 7-1 victory -- and right-hander Ryan Vogelsong will look to do the same Friday evening.
Puerto Rico vs. USA: TV schedule and preview for World Baseball Classic
Team USA has one final shot to make it into the WBC semifinals. They will send right-hander Ryan Vogelsong back out to the mound against Puerto Rico on Friday to try to make it happen.
Christian Petersen
With third baseman David Wright on the sidelines Thursday, Team USA's offense disappeared. The squad managed just six hits -- all singles -- against the Dominican Republic, their lone run coming on a bases-loaded walk.
If USA wants to keep going in the tournament they're going to have to figure out how to score without Wright -- who has the team's lone home run -- in the lineup. It's not as though they don't have the tools to do it -- Joe Mauer, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan Braun, Adam Jones, etc. pack more than enough punch -- but most of them have been pretty quiet in the tournament thus far.
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On the hill for Puerto Rico will be right-hander Nelson Figueroa, who gave up two runs on five hits in four innings of work against Venezuela in his lone WBC start last week. The 38-year-old hasn't thrown in the big leagues since May of 2011.
The US and Puerto Rico met in similar do-or-die circumstances in the 2009 WBC, with Team USA emerging victorious and advancing to the semi-finals. The winner of Friday night’s game will join Japan, the Netherlands, and the Dominican Republic in San Francisco for the final round.
USA vs. Puerto Rico: Friday, 7:00 p.m. local, 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
TV: MLB Network (U.S.), ESPN Deportes (U.S.)
Starting Pitchers: RHP Ryan Vogelsong vs. RHP Nelson Figueroa
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