USA Shuts Out Puerto Rico to be Crowned the 2017 World Baseball Classic Champions

And just like that, the United States stunned the Team Puerto Rico to win their first-ever World Baseball Classic championship.

With all eyes on Dodger Stadium, Team USA defended their nation’s pastime by defeating Puerto Rico 8-0 to become the 2017 World Baseball Classic champions. This marks the second straight WBC that the Puerto Rican club has reach the finals, but has come away on the short end each time.

Both starters in the pitching rematch between the United States and Puerto Rico from their Pool F matchup on March 17 shone in different ways. While

struck out seven Americans through four innings,

, the eventual WBC MVP, pitched a no-hitter through six innings. Even after

knocked Stroman out of the game with a leadoff single in the seventh, the only other Puerto Rican to record a hit was

.

Following Jonathan Lucroy’s leadoff single in the third, Ian Kinsler opened up the scoring with a two-run home run to center. Two innings later, Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen both singled in runs in the fifth to pad the United States’ lead to 4-0.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Despite facing two outs in the seventh, Brandon Crawford and Giancarlo Stanton gave the United States a 7-0 lead with a RBI singles. McCutchen tacked on another run in the eighth to put the United States ahead by the final score of 8-0.

The United States plowed through the WBC with a 6-2 record, defeating both of the teams they lost to earlier in the tournament. The championship game loss was Puerto Rico’s only defeat during the tournament, putting a sour ending on an otherwise fantastic tournament from the club.

Puerto Rico was one of the more exciting clubs to watch during the tournament, from the blonde barrage, to Javier Baez celebrating before he caught the ball at second, to Yadier Molina showing the world once again that he’s one of the best catchers/leaders in baseball, this team played with heart each and every game.

Next: Yankees, Didi Gregorius Out a Month with a Strained Shoulder

It’s a bummer that they couldn’t pull off the victory, but with the trio of Baez, Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor, they should have a nice core to start building from for the next WBC.