During Sunday’s World Baseball Classic semifinal game, Team USA ran into a juggernaut in the Dominican Republic, which featured one of the best lineups anyone’s ever seen.
Fortunately for Team USA, it had arguably the best starting pitcher in the world on the mound in Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.
Skenes did his job, limiting the DR to one run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings. Between his outing, some good defense behind him, a pair of solo homers and a lights-out performance by USA’s bullpen, that was enough for the win.
The reigning NL Cy Young winner lived up to the hype in his first WBC, going 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in his two outings. USA’s manager, Mark DeRosa, was certainly impressed.
“Showed up in an electric blue suit, white collar, ready to go,” DeRosa said on Monday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show.” “You talk about robot umps, this guy’s a robot. He is process-oriented, he wanted the moment…Paul was dialed in from pitch one. He wasn’t overthrowing, he was making pitches…right man, right time.”
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Skenes’ only mistake was a high, hanging sweeper that Junior Caminero somehow turned on for a solo homer, but other than that, Skenes was masterful.
Unfortunately, he won’t be available for Tuesday’s final, but he’s already done his part. Now it’s up to his teammates to finish what he started and secure USA’s first WBC championship in nine years.
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