Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the United States’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic quarterfinal Friday in Houston.
The U.S. will face the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarterfinal, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10.
It appeared the American squad was headed towards a cozy victory when it gradually built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning.
A first-inning RBI groundout plated Bobby Witt Jr, and the U.S. added two more in the third on an infield single by Alex Bregman compounded by a throwing error by Canadian third baseman Abraham Toro to make it 3-0.
Turang and Crow-Armstrong’s back-to-back run-scoring singles from the bottom two spots of the lineup pushed that advantage to five runs, providing insurance which quickly became quite valuable.
Following a three-run sixth inning highlighted by Bo Naylor’s two-run homer, Canada put the tying run in scoring position with no outs the very next inning on a pair of infield singles followed by a passed ball. David Bednar retired the next three batters, two on strikeouts, to escape unscathed.
That proved to be the last real threat as Garrett Whitlock and Mason Miller shut down Canada in order over the final two innings to never again allow the tying run to reach the plate. Miller slammed the door by striking out the side in the ninth for the save.
Logan Webb struck out five over 4 2/3 scoreless innings for the U.S. He allowed four hits and a walk but stranded four runners. In two WBC starts, he’s thrown 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts to one walk.
Brad Keller and Gabe Speier allowed three runs over a combined 1 1/3 innings in immediate relief of Webb.
After Canadian starter Michael Soroka allowed three runs (two earned) over 2 2/3 innings, Micah Ashman stabilized things with 2 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings.
The U.S. managed four hits over the final 6 2/3 innings, with Aaron Judge’s first-inning double going down as the team’s only extra-base hit.
Canada, which got two hits apiece from Naylor and leadoff hitter Otto Lopez, was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding seven runners.
