Winner of USA vs. Puerto Rico likely going to the World Baseball Classic semifinals

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Team USA and Puerto Rico are both 1-0 in the second round of World Baseball Classic play, thanks to wins against Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, respectively. As each round is only three games long for each team with a tiebreaker if necessary, starting out 1-0 is significant: that and a win in Friday night’s head-to-head contest could be enough to propel one of these two teams to the World Baseball Classic semifinals.

A loss does not mean the other team has no chance at the semis, though. If, say, Team USA loses and Puerto Rico remains undefeated in the tournament, the former would be 1-1 — the same record the Dominican Republic currently has in round two. On Saturday night, Team USA is taking on the Dominican, so if it’s a battle of 1-1 teams, it will be a game to determine who would be joining Puerto Rico in the semifinals.

If Team USA defeats Puerto Rico on Friday, it would be 2-0 and then would be going against a Dominican team that needs a win to keep alive in the tournament, while Puerto Rico would be facing 0-2 Venezuela earlier in the day to try to do the same.

If USA wins Friday and then both Puerto Rico and the Dominican manage victories Saturday, we would have three 2-1 teams vying for two spots, so Sunday’s tiebreaker game would indeed be played. In short, we’re not all that far from chaos, and there is nothing better in baseball.