2013 World Baseball Classic – Championship

The championship round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic was held at AT&T Park, San Francisco, California, United States from March 17 to 19, 2013.

The championship round was a single-elimination tournament. In the final (championship) game, the team with the higher winning percentage of games in the tournament were to be the home team. If the teams competing in the final had identical winning percentages in the tournament, then World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) would conduct a coin flip or draw to determine the home team.

The Dominican Republic defeated the Netherlands and Puerto Rico to win their first World Baseball Classic championship. Robinson Canó was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[1]

Bracket
Semifinals Final
      
2R  Puerto Rico 3
1W  Japan 1
SF1W  Puerto Rico 0
SF2W  Dominican Republic 3
1R  Netherlands 1
2W  Dominican Republic 4
Note: "1R" = runner up in Pool 1.

Results

Semifinal 1 − Puerto Rico 3, Japan 1
March 17 18:00 at AT&T Park
Team123456789RHE
 Puerto Rico100000200390
 Japan000000010161
WP: Mario Santiago (1–1)   LP: Kenta Maeda (2–1)   Sv: Fernando Cabrera (3)
Home runs:
PUR: Alex Ríos (1)
JPN: None
Attendance: 33,683 (80.4%)
Umpires: HP − Bill Miller, 1B − Edgar Estivision, 2B − Wally Bell, 3B − Trevor Grieve,
LF − Ted Barrett, RF − Paul Hyham
Boxscore

Two time World Baseball Classic defending champions Japan faces off against surprising upstart Puerto Rico in the first semi-final matchup. Puerto Rico scores a run from the first inning and scored two additional runs from a home run by Alex Ríos as the Japanese team struggle to catch up. Japan, however, only managed to score at least a run; Seiichi Uchikawa made a baserun snafu in an effort to steal second but was caught up between first and second bases as catcher Yadier Molina tags Uchikawa for a second out. Despite the efforts, Japan eventually loses to Puerto Rico 3-1 as their championship streak from two previous World Baseball Classic games has ended and the Japanese team gracefully bows out to the stands and the Puerto Rican baseball team after their defeat.

Semifinal 2 − Dominican Republic 4, Netherlands 1
March 18 18:00 at AT&T Park
Team123456789RHE
 Netherlands100000000141
 Dominican Republic00004000X490
WP: Edinson Vólquez (1–0)   LP: Diego Markwell (2–1)   Sv: Fernando Rodney (6)
Attendance: 27,527 (65.7%)
Umpires: HP − Wally Bell, 1B − Trevor Grieve, 2B − Ted Barrett, 3B − Paul Hyham,
LF − Bill Miller, RF − Edgar Estivision
Boxscore

Final − Dominican Republic 3, Puerto Rico 0
Flags from countries participating in the 2013 World Baseball Classic are shown in a pre-game ceremony on the Championship Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA, USA, on March 19, 2013.
March 19 17:00 at AT&T Park
Team123456789RHE
 Puerto Rico000000000030
 Dominican Republic20001000X381
WP: Samuel Deduno (2–0)   LP: Giancarlo Alvarado (1–1)   Sv: Fernando Rodney (7)
Attendance: 35,703 (85.2%)
Umpires: HP − Ted Barrett, 1B − Paul Hyham, 2B − Bill Miller, 3B − Edgar Estivision,
LF − Wally Bell, RF − Trevor Grieve
Boxscore
Robinson Canó, the tournament's Most Valuable Player

In the final, Samuel Deduno started for the Dominican Republic, while Giancarlo Alvarado started for Puerto Rico.[2][3] 35,703 fans attended the game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. An additional 50,000 Dominican fans watched the game at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[2] In Puerto Rico, the final was the most watched sporting event for the past year with nearly three-fourths of all households tuning in.[4][5]

Edwin Encarnación hit a two-run double in the first inning, giving the Dominican Republic the lead. Erick Aybar had the game's third run batted in for the Dominican Republic. Deduno recorded five strikeouts in five scoreless innings pitched and Fernando Rodney completed the game with a save, his seventh save of the tournament.[2] Four Dominican relief pitchers combined for 4 scoreless innings.[6]

This was the third time in the tournament that the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico.[2] The Dominican Republic completed the tournament with an 8–0 record, becoming the first undefeated team to win the World Baseball Classic.[5] Robinson Canó was named the Most Valuable Player of the Classic after he batted 15-for-32 (.469), the most hits in tournament history.[1] After the match the team was congratulated immediately for their victory by Dominican president Danilo Medina.[5][7]

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References
  1. Schlegel, John (March 20, 2013). "Torrid stretch earns Cano Classic MVP". MLB.com. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  2. Associated Press. "Dominican Republic wins 2013 World Baseball Classic; blanks Puerto Rico in final – MLB – Sporting News". Aol.sportingnews.com. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  3. Perrotto, John (March 18, 2013). "WBC provides journeyman one shot at stardom". Usatoday.com. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  4. Busfield, Steve (March 20, 2013). "Unbeaten Dominican Republic claim World Baseball Classic title". The Guardian. London. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  5. "To D.R., WBC title means everything". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  6. Kepner, Tyler (March 20, 2013). "World-Class Pitching Carries Undefeated Dominicans to Title". New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  7. "Danilo Medina felicita la selección de béisbol". El Dia. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
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