Dodgers News: Edwin Diaz Closes Out Puerto Rico’s WBC win in San Juan
Edwin Diaz WBC Recap: A Strikeout Masterclass
SAN JUAN, PR — Everything’s coming up roses so far for Dodgers playing in the WBC. Hyeseong Kim drove in a run in Team Korea’s win on Thursday. Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both contributed mightily to Samurai Japan’s victory early Friday, and now, Edwin Diaz gets in on the act. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning as Team Puerto Rico shut out Colombia 5-0 in this first day of Pool A play.
All the scoring in this one came in the top of the fifth, when a steady barrage of base hits puts five runs on the board for Puerto Rico. Playing in front of their countrymen in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the national team kept the line moving in the inning until they had a very comfortable lead. Lots of recognizable names were in on the scoring: big leaguers Eddie Rosario, Martin Maldonado, Willi Castro and Heliot Ramos all drove in runs in the inning.
Enter Diaz
So by the time this rain-soaked affair made its way to the ninth, it was 5-0 and no longer a save situation. Nevertheless, Diaz (and Timmy Trumpet) were called upon to finish things up. And Diaz did a lot of what we’ve come to expect from him: miss bats.
The inning got off on the wrong foot when Diaz gave up a single to Colombia’s Tito Polo to lead off. Polo then took second on a passed ball from the catcher Maldonado. That’s when Diaz said “enough of this foolishness.”
He struck out Dayan Frias on a nasty slider. Then, he got Gustavo Campero to swing and miss at the same pitch for a second strikeout. Finally, he put yet another slider on the black and got a whiff from Michael Arroy to end the game and secure the win for the Puerto Ricans.
Now if we can only figure out what Bad Bunny was doing in Tokyo…
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