Joey Rocks Team USA
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
Phoenix, Arizona – Two hours prior to the the first pitch the sold-out raucous crowd at Chase Field in Arizona sprinted toward their seats to soak up every bit of playoff baseball at a whole new level than they’ve ever experienced. Where ballparks are normally blaring with music in an empty yard, they were filled with back and forth battles of chants. Throughout the halls of the Phoenix baseball cathedral echoed, U-S-A! then, Mexico! The crowds of the World Baseball Classic once again flexed on and surpassed most of, if not all parks throughout the Majors.
Not an empty seat in the house, crowd on its feet, rabid for their respective teams and then, boom! Joey Meneses, the Washington Nationals’ breakout star dropped one in the Grand Canyon from Chase Field. Team USA started San Diego Padres’ pitcher Nick Martinez, and it was just beginning its rough night in the desert. USA pitching struggled to keep it polite, against an offensive-minded Mexico lineup.
United States pitchers combined for an ERA of 27.37 through the first 7 innings, and if you’re new to baseball, that’s not great. Following an RBI single from the White Sox Tim Anderson, the USA cut the deficit to 2-1 and the Stars and Stripe faithful began to rechannel the energy they had to begun the heated contest with.
While Anderson pushed his team toward trying to knot the game and swing the momentum in their favor, Mexico began to pour on the United States pitching staff. First an RBI single from the Tampa Bay Rays’ Isaac Paredes, then another powerful blast from the bat of Joey Meneses.
Meneses would become the worst nightmare to the US, while picking up his nation from a heartbreaking loss to Colombia the night before. Meneses’ bat flip reached a height Kevin Durant and Devin Booker who play across the street from Chase Field would be envious of.
In the five plate appearances where Meneses stepped into the box, he racked up three hits, scored three times, and knocked in five clutch RBIs. For the American squad, Anderson continued to lead the team by driving in two runs in the 8th inning to cut the Mexican lead to 11-5, although it was not enough, as Samuel Zazueta came on for the Mexican team and shut the door in the 9th frame.
Mexico and the United States will both finish the first weekend with a win and a loss. The bitter rivals will stand together both looking up at their neighbor to the north, Canada, as they are 1-0 following an 18-8 affair against Great Britain.
The United States will face Canada and Colombia consecutively, while Mexico will settle in for dates with Great Britain and Canada. While one loss seems crushing as it has for Mexico on Saturday and the United States on Sunday night, with two games left for the rivals, and three for Canada and Colombia, anything could happen.
Keep in mind, that across the Pacific, Italy and Cuba won Group A with identical 2-2 records. So, unless you haven’t been watching this tournament, it’s giving the NCAA a run for it’s money. Hell, it’s giving MLB a run for it’s money. It feels like being at a World Series game every night.
