World Baseball Classic: Team Puerto Rico v Team Venezuela Showdown

By David Conde
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: March 12, 2023

During the exhibition games, Team Puerto Rico looked like a squad that wasn’t firing on all cylinders and then after Game 1 of their opening round of the World Baseball Classic, they arrived.

Now Puerto Rico will faceoff against a Venezuelan team that is coming off a thrilling 5-1 victory on Saturday night over a Dominican Republic team, who were predicted to win the whole classic.

Puerto Rico defeated Team Nicaragua 9-1 on Saturday, led by Marcus Stroman‘s 4.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits and he struck out two. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was 2 for 4, with two runs scored and an RBI. Javier Baez, Christian Vazquez and Martin Maldonado also recorded two hits a piece in the lopsided victory.

Venezuela received an amazing performance from Houston Astros starter Luis Garcia, as he tossed three innings in relief, with no hits or runs and recorded seven strikeouts. Venezuela overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first inning and scored five runs over a span of eight inning, to win 5-1 and knock off the powerhouse DR team.

Both Puerto Rico and Venezuela are tied at the top of Pool D along with Israel, as they are all 1-0.

For Puerto Rico, Toronto Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios will take the mound against Venezuelan and Minnesota Twins starter Pablo Lopez.

Both teams have powerhouse lineups, and both are coming off big victories, but which team will have the upper hand?

One thing for sure, the stadium will be rocking as fans from both countries will be dancing in the stands and expecting a huge game.

← Previous Story Team Puerto Rico: So Far, Not What Fans Expected

Next Story → Venezuela’s LHP Enmanuel De Jesus, Helps Lead Club To Victory

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.