Marcus Stroman, Ian Kinsler Lift Team USA To First World Baseball Classic Title

Go crazy, Team USA — when Ian Kinsler isn’t looking, of course.

For the first time ever, the Americans won the World Baseball Classic final Wednesday with a commanding 8-0 win over Puerto Rico at Dodger Stadium.

Marcus Stroman was the star of the game, as he allowed zero hits through six innings before giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stroman’s efforts earned him tournament MVP honors.

The talk heading into the big game was Kinsler’s apparent dig at Latin American players in a New York Times article. But that didn’t seem to faze him, as the second baseman belted a two-run home run in the top of the third inning.

And a pair of RBI singles by Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen in the fifth clinched the historic victory for Team USA.

Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images