A-Rod hails USA’s win as manager in Dominican Republic: ‘Mark DeRosa threw a gem’

Mark DeRosa almost cost Team USA the opportunity to advance to the Round of 16 of the World Baseball Classic with some of his decisions in their loss to Italy. Now, Alex Rodriguez believes Team USA’s manager is the main reason they’re in the World Baseball Classic finals. Rodriguez pointed out that DeRosa was the catalyst for Team USA in its 2-1 victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic semifinal victory on Sunday. “The only guy I want to give a shout out to is Mark DeRosa,” Rodriguez said on the FS1 postgame show after Team USA’s victory. “He was absolutely hammered this week. And tonight he made some brilliant moves – Gunnar Henderson, great defense and a big home run. And he struck out Paul Skenes after 71 pitches and followed by a double play. “Mark DeRosa threw a gem. Henderson had not been in the starting lineup for much of the tournament, sitting behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Alex Bregman on the left side of the infield for all but one game. However, Sunday’s game presented an opportunity for Henderson to start thanks to his good career numbers against Dominican Republic starting pitcher Luis Severino. Henderson had gone 7 for 9 in his career against Severino with a home run, a double and four RBIs against the right-hander before Sunday’s game, he had added another home run against Severino. “Playing the hot hand, right?” DeRosa told reporters before Sunday’s game. “Gunnar has also hit well in a limited role during the tournament, going 5 for 10 with a home run in the first four games he played. Bregman, meanwhile, had shot 2 for 11 in the four matches he has played so far in the tournament. That’s obvious considering he was available to start Sunday’s game. However, it also indicated when to remove it. Skenes began to face his first serious problem in the bottom of the fifth inning, when he allowed consecutive one-out singles to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte. Instead of having Skenes throw to Mets star Juan Soto, DeRosa called on reliever Tyler Rogers to try to get out of trouble. just a matter of a few throws. Soto hit a double play in the bottom of the inning, keeping Team USA’s lead at 2-1. DeRosa seemingly pressed all the right buttons with the bullpen for the rest of the night. Griffin Jax, David Bednar, Garrett Whitlock and Mason Miller did not allow a run in the final four innings, with only three Dominican Republic players on base. Classic He will face Italy or Venezuela on Tuesday, with Mets right-hander Nolan McLean likely taking the mound.