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The United States fell in the World Baseball Classic in a thriller on Tuesday night in Miami, while their All-Star closer kept a seat warm in the bullpen.
Mason Miller did not enter the championship game against Venezuela after getting saves against Canada and the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
After Bryce Harper homered in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at two, it prompted a perfect scenario for a closer to enter the game in the ninth, as typically, closers pitch in tie games as the home team in the top of the ninth.
Instead, Mark DeRosa opted for Boston Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock, who gave up the winning run.
DeRosa, who said before the game Miller was available, revealed that availability was only under one condition.
“Honoring the [San Diego] Padres,” DeRosa said, hinting that the Padres told DeRosa that Miller could only be used in a save situation. “Had we taken the lead, he was coming in, but I wasn’t going to bring him in into a tie game.”
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Of course, a save situation was never going to happen once the United States entered the ninth inning without a lead. Thus, Miller ultimately was never made available.
Contrary to apparently popular belief, the United States was not the only team in the WBC to abide by restrictions set out by MLB clubs. The FOX broadcast mentioned how Venezuela manager Omar Lopez was on the phone with MLB team officials the morning of the championship about regulations for specific pitchers.
For example, the Detroit Tigers would not allow reliever Enmanuel De Jesus to pitch under any circumstances on Tuesday, while the Chicago Cubs said closer Daniel Palencia, like Miller, was only allowed to pitch in a save situation.
There was pregame speculation that New York Yankees closer David Bednar was entirely unavailable for Team USA on Tuesday after also pitching Friday and Sunday.
Eugenio Suarez’s RBI double gave Venezuela its first World Baseball Classic title in the short history of the event, which began in 2006. For the U.S., it was its second consecutive loss in the title game after winning it all in 2017.
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