For the third time in the tournament, and for the second time in two consecutive days, WBSC/KONAMI Men’s Baseball World Ranking No. 5, USA, and No. 4, Venezuela, will meet in the medal match. bronze from Premier12 WBSC 2024, presented by RAXUS, at 12 pm local time on Sunday at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan.
Both teams met in the opening round of Group A in Mexico, where Venezuela won 5-3. Then, on Saturday, they collided in the Super Round, with the US winning 6-5 in a thrilling back-and-forth duel. In that game, the US blew a 5-0 lead, but was victorious thanks to a ninth-inning home run by Ryan Ward. Both teams were eliminated from the final due to a three-way tie with finalist Chinese Taipei.
“We are playing a world-class tournament and we missed the gold medal game by one run or maybe one out. We will remember this experience for the rest of our lives,” Venezuela manager Omar López said after the game. on Saturday. “Still, tomorrow is just another game. We’ll go out there and play hard. We’ll go after that bronze medal.”
Now, these two old acquaintances will face each other again with the bronze medal at stake. Venezuela has already secured its best-ever performance in the WBSC Premier12 by reaching the Super Round and placing in the top four. They finished ninth in 2015 and seventh in 2019. For their part, the USA already won a silver medal in 2015 and finished in fourth place in 2019.
“We’ve faced Venezuela twice now,” U.S. manager Mike Scioscia said after Saturday’s game. “They beat us in the Opening Round and we won today. They are a good team, with a solid pitching staff. What we can do is go out there and play a good game. Hopefully, we can take an early lead and keep it.” .
Scioscia has named Casey Lawrence as the starter. The 37-year-old veteran right-hander, a former MLB player with the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals, has made one appearance so far, allowing two runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings against the Netherlands in the round inaugural. He struck out four batters.
Venezuela manager Omar López has chosen 30-year-old right-hander Mario Sánchez. He’s an interesting pick, as he already faced Team USA in the tournament, pitching six solid innings in the opening round win, allowing three hits and two runs (1 CL) while striking out ten batters. This year he played for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the CPBL.
