MIAMI — After Saturday’s riveting quarterfinal showdown between the United States and Venezuela, the United States took on Cuba in Sunday night’s semifinals of the World Baseball Classic (7 ET on FS1).
Right-hander Adam Wainwright of Team USA will face off against left-hander Roenis Elías of Team Cuba. Pitching depth will be a factor in this game: Wainwright hasn’t pitched since the Americans’ WBC opener, but Team USA fielded six substitutes on Saturday; Cuba have not played since beating Australia on Wednesday.
“He’s played in every big game you know,” said US coach Mark DeRosa of Wainwright. “We can cover [the innings]. … We have some appetizers that can go. We’re going to check out with some guys who have the potential to maybe go days in a row. We’ll see where that is tomorrow.”
A win for Team USA would bring them one step closer to defending their WBC title. Meanwhile, Sunday’s game is the furthest Cuba has advanced in the World Baseball Classic since it finished runners-up in 2006.
Here are the keys to Sunday’s matchup:
When and where: Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
How to Watch: Cuba vs Team USA game is broadcast live on FS1. Each game can be streamed online on the FOX Sports App. For international viewing options, click here.
How to Listen: Live audio coverage of all games will be streamed on Sirius XM, TuneIn, MLB.com and the MLB App.
What’s at stake: The winner will advance to the championship round on Tuesday night (7 ET on FS1). This team meets the winner of the Mexico-Japan semifinals, which will be played on Monday at 19:00 on FS1.
Matchup History: This is the first matchup between Team USA and Cuba.
Yoán Moncada, 3B, Cuba: Moncada goes into the semifinals with 0.421/0.522/0.737 and 1.259 OPS in the Classic. He hit one of his three WBC doubles in Cuba’s quarterfinal win.
Trea Turner, SS, USA: Turner has the hot bat in the WBC after winning a game-winning Grand Slam in the quarterfinals. Less than 24 hours later he will take the field where he undoubtedly stomped 407 feet to left field.
