2009 World Baseball Classic - United States of America
The United States of America were the unfortunate victims of the tie breaker procedure in 2006, bowing out in the 2nd round. They were back to do better in 2009, but for the the first (and so far only) time, they'd have to play round 1 on the road. Usually, one of America's cities will play host for one of the four round 1 locations, but in 2009, Canada would play the host team for pool play while America would host the rest of the competition starting in round 2. The US would have no issues qualifying for round 2; first with a 6-5 win over host Canada (paying them back for a loss from 2006) then 15-6 over Venezuela. Venezuela got the last laugh when they won the losers bracket, then beat the US 5-3 in the round 1 finale to claim the winning seed going into round 2. The setbacks continued in round 2 where Puerto Rico thumped the Americans 11-1 in 7 mercy rule shortened innings. With their backs against the wall, the US eliminated the Netherlands 9-3 before winning the rematch ...