The United States is heading to the World Baseball Classic final Wednesday thanks to some timely in hitting and shitty defense from Japan.
Edging out Japan with a 2-1 win, the United States capitalized on second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi‘s error in the fourth inning when a sharply hit ball from Christian Yelich went right through his legs and into right field. To follow, Andrew McCutchen scored the run on a two-out single giving the United States a 1-0 lead.
After Japan tied it up, the U.S. took the lead for good in the eighth thanks in part to Ian Kinsler‘s one-out double off the left field fence advancing Brandon Crawford to third base. With the infield in, Japan’s porous defense Tuesday night came into play once again as the normally sure handed Japanese third baseman Noburhiro Matsuda dropped a slow roller off the bat of Adam Jones which ended up scoring Crawford from third.
The United States will now take on an undefeated Puerto Rico team whose undefeated in this year’s WBC and outscoring opponents 55-18.