US takes down Puerto Rico in World Baseball Classic

The U.S. trounced Puerto Rico 8-0 in the World Baseball Classic Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Marcus Stroman carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the championship game.

In the third inning, Ian Kinsler hit a two-run home run, followed by RBIs in the fifth inning by Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen. In the seventh, Brandon Crawford singled home two runs and Giancarlo Stanton one more. In the eighth, McCutchen singled home Nolan Arenado for the eighth run.

U.S. Manager Jim Leyland pulled Stroman after Angel Pagan doubled to lead off the seventh inning, bringing in Sam Dyson who escaped the inning.

Pat Neshek began the eighth inning by allowing a leadoff single to Yadier Molina but induced a double-play, then worked around a two-out walk by striking out Kennys Vargas.

In the ninth, David Robertson induced an infield pop-up from Enrique Hernandez. After a Pagan single, Francisco Lindor grounded out to first base, then Carlos Correa grounded out to third to end the game.

In tournament play, the U.S. lost to the Dominican Republic but beat Canada and Colombia to get out of Pool C. In Pool F, the U.S. lost to Puerto Rico but beat the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The U.S. took down Japan in the semifinals to advance to the finals to play Puerto Rico.

This was the fourth WBC tournament. The Dominican Republic won the last tournament and Japan the two before that. The next tournament will likely occur in 2021, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said.