This Wednesday, Canada played a two-way game: it eliminated Cuba by beating it 7-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic for the first time at the close of Group A.
The Canadian team, which had never made it past the first phase, surprised by knocking down a team with a tradition in the sport of hot ball, runner-up in the first edition in 2006 and semi-finalist in the last one, in 2023.
The Americans join Puerto Rico as the two representatives of Group A in the round of the eight best, which will be played between Friday and Saturday in the American cities of Miami and Houston.
Both teams finished the group stage with a 3-1 record, but Canada jumped to the next round as the leader for having won (3-2) in the direct duel on Tuesday.
At Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Canada took advantage of the bad afternoon of Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodríguez, who allowed four runs and three hits in just 1.2 innings.
The Americans were always in front but pocketed the game in the sixth inning, when Matt Davidson, Denzel Clarke and Otto López went through the register and opened an insurmountable gap (5-1).
The islanders showed a reaction in the bottom of the sixth, when they loaded all three bases, but the offensive effort went to waste after Yiddi Cappe struck out.
After elimination, Cuba loses the chance to fight for one of the two tickets for the baseball tournament at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games that the World Classic will distribute to American teams.
