Team USA vs. Canada: Americans backed into the WBC Quarterfinals and now they have to prove they actually want to be there

Team USA and Canada have given us some all-time hockey moments. The baseball history between these two countries is basically nonexistent. That changes tonight.

Team USA and Canada meet in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic at 8 PM ET from Daikin Park in Houston on FOX. We have officially arrived to single elimination games. USA is a heavy favorite tonight, sporting a -4.5 run line with a total of 9.5. Logan Webb gets the ball for the Americans. Michael Soroka starts for Canada.

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Let’s be honest about something first.

It would be almost poetic if Canada advanced tonight. Team USA just swept Canada in hockey at the Olympics, with the men and women both winning gold medals over the Canadians in their own national sport.

Losing to Canada in baseball, of all things, would be a disaster.

Not just for the WBC. For American sports in general. The two gold medals would feel a lot smaller with a baseball loss to Canada hanging over them.

Team USA backed into these quarterfinals and everyone knows it.

They needed Italy to beat Mexico on Wednesday just to stay alive after Mark DeRosa’s club sleepwalked through pool play and got embarrassed by the Italians 8-6 in their final game. Vinnie Pasquantino, a Kansas City Royal playing for Italy, hit three home runs against Mexico to bail them out, the first three-homer game in WBC history.

Team USA did not earn their spot in this round. They were handed it. To make matters even more messy, Mark DeRosa has been under fire all week and rightfully so, thanks to his beyond stupid interviews, regardless of what side of the debate you’re on.

Pitchers have also been walking out the door left and right. Skubal, Wacha, Yarbrough, Kewshaw and Clay Holmes have all departed, with Will Vest, Tyler Rogers, Tim Hill and Joe Ryan added in their place.

The optics have been bad and the on-field product in pool play was not much better.

Team Canada is no longer a pushover.

Ernie Whitt, born in Detroit but a revered former Blue Jays catcher, has managed Canada in every WBC and has them in the quarterfinals for the first time.

They went 3-1 in pool play, clinching with a 7-2 win over Cuba in a win-or-go-home game, the first time in WBC history Cuba did not advance past pool play.

Their bullpen allowed just three earned runs over 21.1 innings. Owen Cassie and Abraham Toro have been their best hitters, combining for a .983 OPS in the tournament.

James Paxton came out of retirement to compete and threw a dominant 2.2 innings against Cuba before Whitt pulled him strategically to keep him eligible tonight.

Soroka is 28 and coming off a 3-8 season split between Washington and Chicago with a 4.52 ERA. He gave up one run over three innings in Canada’s pool play opener, sitting 94.7 mph with his four-seamer. He is not an ace. Logan Webb is better and this is a favorable matchup for Team USA.

Speaking of Logan Webb, he dominated Brazil in pool play, retiring 12 straight batters with six strikeouts over four innings. He has been sharp all spring and this is exactly the kind of start you want from him heading into a knockout round.

Team USA is 4-1 all-time against Canada in the WBC.

The most recent meeting was 2023, a 12-1 run-rule win. Yes, the history is firmly on the American side, which should come as no surprise to any baseball fan across the globe.

The winner faces either Korea or the Dominican Republic in Sunday’s semifinals in Miami. That DR lineup was terrifying in pool play and a potential USA-DR semifinal would be must-watch television.

Beyond that, a USA-Japan championship game rematch is likely on the table, a callback to 2023 when Ohtani struck out Mike Trout for the final out in one of the most iconic moments in tournament history. That is what is at stake here.

Tonight needs to be a statement. Team USA has spent this entire tournament playing down to the moment. The knockout rounds do not allow for that anymore.

8 PM. FOX. Houston. No more slip-ups and for the love of god, keep Mark DeRosa away from any and all interviews. What a mess lol.

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