There’s no Diamondbacks game today, but we do of course have the final of the World Baseball Championship, which sees the USA take on Venezuela. One of these teams was not expected to make the final. Before the tournament, but after the rosters were finalized, the USA was even odds to win it all while Venezuela was all the way back at 15/1 at BetOnline.ag. But now America is at -250, which converts to 4/10 on, or a 71.4% chance. But Team USA haven’t exactly been convincing, squeaking out of the group thanks to Italy, then getting wins over Canada and the Dominican Republic in the knockout stages, by two and one runs respectively.
Venezuela also went 3-1 in their group, losing to the DR, but pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament by beating Japan in the quarter-finals. They then also had to come from behind to beat underdogs Italy last night. But it doesn’t matter how you reached the final. All that matters is what you do tonight, and D-backs’ fans might be forgiven for having split loyalties – just as in the semi-final where Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo were playing against Team USA. Tonight, Eduardo Rodriguez starts for Venezuela, while Arizona has no representation on the American side.
It promises to be a fun end to another memorable tournament. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on FOX, and should be getting under way very shortly.