USA's Comeback

Look at the photo above. A Met. A Phillie. A Red Sock. A Yankee. In one uniform, one team, one country. Together. That is what the World Baseball Classic is about.

Team USA dog piled after they advanced to the semifinals in their dramatic come from behind victory against Puerto Rico.

For the first few innings, the game was back and fourth. Alex Rios and Carlos Delgado each hit home runs for Puerto Rico. Shane Victorino and Brian McCann drove in runs for USA.

Carlos Beltran flashed some leather when he leaped against the wall to rob McCann of a home run in the 4th inning.

On the other hand, Derek Jeter was unable to flash leather a few times as the ball squeaked up the middle twice. Jimmy Rollins, the better defensive player of the two, was the designated hitter. Davy Johnson's decesion to play Jeter at short was controversial since the hits led to runs for Puerto Rico.

Going into the bottom 9th inning, 3 outs from eliminating USA, Puerto Rico was up 5-3.


Shane Victorino led off the 9th inning with a single off his Philadelphia Phillies teammate, J.C. Romero. As he jogged down to first, he and Romero had a chuckle, but Romero would have the last laugh.

Brian Roberts singled and Derek Jeter flied out to right. With runners at the corners, Roberts stole second base. Jimmy Rollins would draw a walk against his Phillies teammate after a long at bat. Romero was lifted for Fransico Cabrera.

"I just had to bear down, the concentration you have in that situation, the
adrenaline, the feeling of importance is very close to what it was like in the
World Series last October," said Rollins.

Kevin Yokilis, who homered earlier in the game, drew a bases loaded walk with just one out. USA was down by one.

David Wright followed with a bloop down the right field line scoring Brian Roberts and Jimmy Rollins to give USA a 6-5 victory.

QUOTEABLE:

"The celebration was pretty wild," Wright said. "I never thought that we'd
be dogpiling in March, but it was pretty special and something I'll always
remember."

"All I know is that David Wright's face was in the dirt, and all the Mets
fans were panicking," said Brian Roberts. "When people say these games aren't important
they should have been in the dugout in the ninth inning."

"I heard a guy in right field yelling you guys don't have the desire or
attitude to win. We showed them that we do. I think that's one of those things
everyone criticizes, but we find a way to win." Victorino said.

"It's right there with it, I think, the excitement and that adrenaline rush," Youkilis said. "When you win the World Series and stuff like that, the dogpile is the same. That was nuts to go out there and do that, and just to be able to celebrate with different guys. I think that's the most special thing is, you're celebrating a game, you're celebrating a nation."

"Being with the United States and all the fans out there were supporting us today, you're celebrating as a whole, and that's what is so special about that."

Rollins on being teammates with player of their rival teams:

"We'll deal with that when we get there," Rollins said. "Tonight, we're
celebrating.".

USA will play Venezuela tonight to determine their seed in the semifinals.