UP AND ADAM: Adam Jones of Team USA slides home in the eighth inning with what proved to be the winning run in yesterday’s 9-4 WBC win over catcher Chris Robinson and Canada. Team USA advanced to the second round with the win and Canada was eliminated. (
)
PHOENIX — Do you believe in chokes?
Team USA doesn’t.
In what would have been the most humiliating loss in United States baseball history, manager Joe Torre’s club rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the eighth inning to beat Canada 9-4 yesterday at Chase Field to avoid being knocked out of the first round of the World Baseball Classic. With the victory, the United States advanced to the second round in Miami.
“If we would have lost today, it would have been an embarrassment to the USA,’’ said second baseman Brandon Phillips. “We’re better than that. The USA, this is where baseball started and we have to represent our country. We really should not have been here [celebrating the win], especially the way we did not take advantage of the opportunities to score. But we picked ourselves up, we believe in ourselves and we turned it around and it’s a beautiful thing.’’
They turned it around because of Adam Jones’ two-run double with one out in that eighth that drove in Willie Bloomquist and David Wright to put Team USA on top. Then, in the ninth, Eric Hosmer, who replaced injured first baseman Mark Teixeira on the roster, broke it open with a three-run double.
Wright was spectacular in the three games, batting .455 with nine total bases, five hits, five RBIs, an .818 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage. He was on-base four times yesterday after his grand slam in a 6-2 win over Italy on Saturday night turned around Team USA.
Yesterday, Wright scored from first on Jones’ double off Brewers journeyman James Henderson, who spent 10 years in the minors.
“It was a good pitch for me to hit,’’ Jones said.
The moment Jones blistered the ball to left-center, Wright said: “There was a sense of relief, knowing there was a good chance I was going to score. Fun times. This game was intense. We knew what was at stake, we knew what we had to do to advance. There was no gray area. We win, we get in.’’
Wright got the winning hit against Puerto Rico in 2009 that sent Team USA to the final round. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Italy will join the U.S. in the Miami bracket, with two teams moving on to San Francisco and the final round. Team USA plays tomorrow against Puerto Rico, which lost 4-2 to the Dominican Republic last night in San Juan.
Recalling that hit against Puerto Rico in 2009, Wright smiled and said, “I got a chance to remind all our Puerto Rican players with the Mets every day about it.’’
The U.S. had never been knocked out in the first round of the WBC. Such a loss would have meant they probably would have had to qualify just to play in the next WBC, and American fans most likely would have totally given up on this tournament.
Such a loss would have made America’s game America’s disgrace.
Now Team USA is looking for much more.
“We have to be the first American team to win the WBC,’’ said Phillips, who was a batboy for Team USA in the 1996 Olympics. “This is a dream come true. I always told myself I wanted to play for Team USA. I’m speechless.’’
The U.S. escaped a jam in the bottom of the eighth, when, with the bases loaded and one out, Adam Loewen hit a chopper to the left of Phillips. The ball took a high hop and Phillips made an incredible diving stop and threw to first to retire the big lefty as only one run scored. After an intentional walk, reliever Steve Cishek got pinch hitter Tim Smith to ground to Phillips and end the threat.
“My teammates said I saved the game,’’ Phillips said.
With this comeback, Team USA saved itself from a humiliating exit.
“It would have been a long trip to go back to [Port] St. Lucie and answer questions from my own teammates on why we couldn’t get the job done,’’ Wright said. “At least we made it out of this round and plan on making it out of the next round.’’
Survive and move on. No choke this time around.