Caribbean island neighbors Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will meet Tuesday night at AT&T Park to decide who goes home crowned as the 2013 World Baseball Classic champion.
Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico: TV schedule and preview for World Baseball Classic Championship
DR and PR face off for a third time Tuesday night, but this time it’ll be for all the WBC marbles.
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The two squads have faced each other twice already in the tournament -- the DR winning on both occasions -- but both games were tight battles, so Tuesday night’s grand finale has all the makings of a classic.
The pair have built a fierce rivalry over the years in the Caribbean World Series, with squads from the two islands taking up the top five slots in the competition’s 64-year history. The two countries (well, one’s technically a commonwealth) boast 33 Caribbean titles between them, so Tuesday’s WBC final only looks to raise the stakes.
Both sides boast powerful offensive attacks, but lately it’s been their pitching staffs’ ability to keep runs off the board that has kept them alive. The DR pitching arsenal has allowed just two runs in their last three contests, while Puerto Rico has surrendered six runs over the same span.
Dominican starter Samuel Deduno, who is coming off a solid five-inning, seven-inning performance against Team USA, will try to continue the trend for his home club, and right-hander Giancarlo Alvarado will look to do the same for Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico: Tuesday, 5:00 p.m. local, 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
TV: MLB Network (U.S.), ESPN Deportes (U.S.)
Starting Pitchers: RHP Samuel Deduno vs. RHP Giancarlo Alvarado
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