Tokyo Olympics 2021: USA one win away from baseball gold-medal match
The United States Olympic baseball team defeated Dominican Republic 3-1 to book their ticket to the next round of the competition.
Team USA baseball bounced back after losing 7-6 to Japan two days ago and on Tuesday night they defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1. With this result the United States Olympic baseball team is one win away from the gold-medal match, but first they will have to defeat South Korea on Thursday to book their ticket to the final.
Team USA held on to the early lead
The United States went up early in the game thanks to a two-run home run by the Boston Red Sox's Triston Casas in the first inning. Team USA held on to the 2-0 lead up to the fifth inning, when Tyler Austin hit a solo home run to increase the score to 3-0.
See also:
The 13-year MLB veteran, Scott Kazmir, was the opening pitcher for the United States and he did his job. He made sure to keep the opposing team off the board and he retired 12 of the last 13 batters after five innings. Kazmir finished with five strikeouts and only allowed two hits in the United States' 3-1 win against Dominican Republic.
Now Team USA has to defeat South Korea in order to advance to the gold-medal game against Japan. If they lose that game they will have to play again against the Dominican Republic in the third-place match and win in order to claim the bronze medal.