World Baseball Classic Final Prediction
Will the USA knock off Puerto Rico tonight in the World Baseball Classic Championship at 9:00PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the United States is currently a -130 money line favorite to beat Puerto Rico in tonight’s WBC Final Round. The USA is also -1.5 on the runline (+125), while Puerto Rico is receiving -155 odds to cover the +1.5 on the runline. The over/under total for tonight’s game currently sits at 7.5 runs.
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Seth Lugo, the former 34th-round pick of the New York Mets in the 2011 MLB Draft, will start for Puerto Rico tonight. He was crushed in Triple-A last year but he excelled when called up to the big leagues do to injures, posting a 2.67 ERA in 64 innings for the Mets. His specialty is his curveball, which according to ESPN.com has the highest spin rate in the majors.
Lugo will be opposed by Marcus Stroman, who had a rough first inning last Friday when he faced this same Puerto Rico team. He allowed four runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out two on the night. The first six hitters for Puerto Rico started the game with singles, pushing four runs across and putting the U.S. in an early hole.
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WBC PREDICTION: The USA lineup is so stacked that manager Jim Leyland hasn’t found many at-bats for Daniel Murphy or Paul Goldschmidt, two of the best hitters in baseball. If the U.S. can get to Lugo early, Puerto Rico won’t have the luxury of using lefty Hector Santiago out of the pen because Santiago isn’t eligible to pitch in the final. (Santiago threw 63 pitches in the semifinal game and thus, cannot be used.) Jose Berrios could be the long-man out of the bullpen if Lugo falters but the bottom line is that Puerto Rico could have some pitching problems tonight. Led by Yadier Molina, the heart and soul of the team, Puerto Rico will play outstanding defense once again in a game that should be close until the end. But I like USA to close out the WBC with a victory.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC FINAL PREDICTION: UNITED STATES -130