Smyly tabbed for round-robin assignment
The United States and Venezuela haven’t met on the diamond since 2009. That’s about to change, however, as the World Baseball Classic heats up in San Diego.
Pool F action rolls on tonight, with the two nations aiming to state their respective cases for the semifinals. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives Team USA odds of -165 to emerge victorious. Omar Vizquel’s bunch, on the other hand, enters Petco Park as a +125 underdog.
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Many wondered how the U.S. would respond after Saturday’s 7-5 to the Dominican Republic. Jim Leyland’s troops wasted little time squashing such speculation, routing Canada to put an exclamation point on the first round. Nolan Arenado’s three-run homer off Andrew Albers in the second propelled the Americans to an 8-0 win.
Shockingly, though, the All-Star third baseman is batting just .091 through three games. Paul Goldschmidt and Giancarlo Stanton are languishing at .143 and .111, respectively, as well. Yet Team USA continues to move forward by virtue of its sublime starting pitching. Chris Archer, Marcus Stroman and Danny Duffy combined to hurl 12 2/3 scoreless frames in Miami.
In a matter of hours, Drew Smyly will try to join in the fun. Miguel Cabrera, Jose Altuve and the rest of Venezuela’s primo offensive threats, of course, would love nothing more than to send the Seattle lefty to an early exit. Pay close attention to the .583-hitting Martin Prado, too, who’s absolutely terrorized Italy and Mexico in the last week.
Venezuela actually had to rally past Italy in the Pool D tiebreaker tilt to advance this far. And while we’re continually impressed by the heart of Rodriguez’s order, his staff simply looks overwhelmed. No Felix Hernandez equates to a parade for the American sluggers, then.
WEDNESDAY WBC PICK: USA/VENEZUELA OVER 9.5 RUNS