Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe was suspended for one game by Major League Baseball for crotch-chopping toward the St. Louis Cardinals dugout following a strikeout earlier this week. Uribe is appealing the suspension.
For all the run-it-back rhetoric about the Yankees, it's easy to forget they led all of baseball with 849 runs last season. This is a good, deep offense. And their starting pitching is among the game's best. There's a reason a lot of people think they're the best team in the AL.
And Venezuela takes the lead right back. A leadoff walk from Garrett Whitlock, a Javier Sanoja stolen base and an Eugenio Suárez double into the left-center gap puts Venezuela ahead, 3-2, in the top of the ninth. No outs, either, so Venezuela can tack on more.
Wilyer Abreu just took Nolan McLean out to dead center. A monster shot from one of the purest swings in baseball. Venezuela leads the U.S., 2-0, and Eduardo Rodriguez has carved through four innings, allowing only one hit.
FINAL: United States 2, Dominican Republic 1
Team USA advances to the World Baseball Class final in a tremendous, tense game where all three runs came on homers. Roman Anthony provided the game winner, and the U.S. bullpen made it hold up with 4.2 shutout against a juggernaut.