Adam Jones needed to be the hero on Friday night. It was Team USA's first game in the 2017 world baseball classic - after disappointing in previous showings, this was the year Team USA had to make the leap. An opening loss to Colombia simply wasn't going to cut it. So the Baltimore Orioles outfielder hit a walk-off single.
Winning it at the plate
Jones stepped up to the plate in the 10th inning, looking at a 2-2 tie. There were two outs, and the outfielder picked up two strikes in the at-bat, suggesting the game could be pushed on deeper into the Miami night.
With one swing of the bat, however, Jones singled and brought home the winning run, just the third walk-off hit from Team USA in the WBC, following the heroic exploits of New York Mets third baseman David Wright and former player Alex Rodriguez.
An upset at the hands of Colombia had the potential to derail Team USA before the WBC was even well underway. Thanks to Jones' clutch hit, the team can now take some momentum into a massive Saturday night showdown with the Dominican Republic, one of the favorites in the tournament; they already beat Canada in their first game of the tournament. The loser on Saturday may face an elimination game in pool play on Sunday.
Key moments
The entire first half of this WBC opener lacked key highlights, simply because the starting pitchers were mowing batters down.
Chris Archer pitched four perfect innings for Team USA before being removed. Jose Quintana pitched a no-hitter into the sixth inning for Colombia. The scoreless tie was broken by Colombia, however, which hit three straight doubles to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.
Jones helped Team USA score their first run in the sixth inning on the double.
A wild pitch on a strikeout miraculously brought the game-tying run home, setting the stage for the late-inning heroics. Nolan Arenado made a key defensive snag in the eighth inning to keep Colombia from breaking the game back open. It may not have been easy, but the Americans have a WBC win in hand.
