With the World Baseball Classic final tied in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa did not bring in one of the game’s best relief pitchers and it ultimately cost them the game.
With Venezuela scoring a run against Garrett Whitlock that inning to take a 3-2 lead that held, many wondered why star closer Mason Miller did not have his number called instead.
‘‘Honoring the Padres,” DeRosa explained as the reason. “Had we taken the lead, he was coming in, but I wasn’t going to bring him in to a tie game.”
DeRosa did not specify whether the Padres had directly contacted him about Miller’s availability, but he made it clear that he only had a limited opportunity to use Miller — and since no save situation arose for Team USA during the game, that window never materialized.
He hinted at being particular with Miller before the game.
“I’d like to avoid him, but the score will dictate it,” DeRosa said pregame. “Yes, he’s available.”
Miller appeared four times in the tournament, totaling four innings.
He last pitched Sunday against the Dominican Republic, striking out Junior Caminero, inducing O’Neil Cruz to pop out and controversially striking out Geraldo Perdomo to end the game in a 22-pitch effort.
A potential appearance Tuesday would have marked three outings in five days for Miller, and MLB teams are very meticulous with relievers’ workloads during the spring training window.
It would appear that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller had no issues letting Miller attempt to close out a championship, but didn’t want to push him in a tied game.
As for Venezuela, Cubs star closer Danny Palencia pitched back-to-back days, closing out wins Monday and Tuesday over Italy and the US. Palencia got a trio of American left-handed batters — Kyle Schwarber, Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony — out in order to end the tournament.
