World Baseball Classic: What Team USA Must Do to Beat the Dominican Republic

Team USA and the Dominican Republic are set to face off in what will surely be an epic battle for first place in Pool 2.

The Dominicans are unbeaten in the tournament and are coming off a solid comeback win against Italy, in which they were down by four runs but ended up winning 5-4.

Meanwhile, Team USA is coming off its own signature win against Puerto Rico, where solid pitching from Gio Gonzalez and David Wright’s five RBI propelled them to a 7-1 victory.

The winner of Thursday’s game will automatically qualify for the semifinals, while the loser will have to play Puerto Rico in an elimination game. While Team USA has already beaten Puerto Rico, I’m sure it’d prefer to head straight to the semifinals.

Here are some of the things Team USA must do in order to beat the Dominican Republic.

Don’t let the Dominican Republic rally in late innings

The Dominicans’ efforts against Italy shows that you just can’t sleep on this team. The Italians jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning and only allowed two runs in six innings.

But in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Dominican Republic scored three runs and never looked back.

The Dominican Republic has a deadly lineup with the likes of Jose Reyes, Hanlery Ramirez and Nelson Cruz. However, none is more dangerous than Robinson Cano.

Team USA has to contain Robinson Cano

New York Yankees fans must be pretty excited about the way Robinson Cano has performed in the World Baseball Classic so far. He’s gone 12-for-19, with two home runs and six RBI.

He leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage by a landslide.

After Team USA’s brilliant pitching performance against Puerto Rico, the American rotation is hopefully prepared to take on one of baseball’s best hitters.

Team USA needs solid production out of the middle of their lineup

Team USA is sporting three great hitters, Ryan Braun, Joe Mauer and David Wright, in the third, fourth and fifth spot of its lineup.

Those players need to bring everything they have against the Dominican Republic if Team USA is going to win.

So far, the entire Team USA only has one home run, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt if Braun, Mauer and Wright compensated by hitting a couple of them against the Dominican Republic.