MIAMI — The World Baseball Classic was a big hit. Team USA ultimately was not.
The pre-tournament favorite with a lineup of All-Stars surrounding the all-time great Aaron Judge underachieved offensively throughout the event, and it cost them in a heartbreaking defeat in the championship game.
Team USA fell in the WBC final for a second straight event, mustering only three hits in its 3-2 defeat to Venezuela before a revved-up, raucous crowd that generally favored the foreign team.
Yankees superstar and USA captain Judge, who recently said the WBC atmosphere was “bigger and better” than the World Series, came up especially small in the finale. Judge, who also said that this is the stuff you dream about as a kid, had a nightmare final game after a generally productive event for him. Judge struck out three times in an 0-for-4 performance.
