The United States and the Dominican Republic could not have provided us fans with a much better baseball game than the one we got on Thursday night.  True, American fans are disappointed in the outcome, but baseball fans were the real winners on this night.

The United States scored its lone run in the bottom of the first inning when Dominican starter Samuel Deduno walked Eric Hosmer with the bases loaded to score Brandon Phillips.  And it was that first inning that perhaps was a sign of things to come.  The United States was unable to capitalize on a perfect scoring opportunity, and Deduno recovered to pitch four innings of one run baseball, striking out seven Americans in that stretch.

The Dominican bullpen was just as good, as Kelvin Herrara, Octavio Dotel, Pedro Strop and Fernando Rodney finished the game combining to allow just one hit and no walks to finish off the United States.  Offensively for the Dominicans, it was a moonshot homer by Hanley Ramirez that gave them their first run in the top of the second inning.  Ramirez' home run was never given an official distance, but it was estimated around 440 feet.

Nelson Cruz led off the top of the ninth for the Dominican with his second double of the night, before he was advanced to third on a groundout by Carlos Santana.  Erick Aybar entered the game as a pinch hitter, delivering the game winning hit on a single to right field that scored Cruz.  Jose Reyes scored Aybar just a few batters later, giving the Dominican Republic a 3-1 lead that would be held by Fernando Rodney in the final half inning.

The Americans were playing without the heart and soul of their 2013 squad, David Wright.  Wright is battling a stiff back, and will be checked out by Mets doctors on Friday.  More than likely Wright will be out on Friday night when the United States takes on Puerto Rico in an elimination game.

Joe Mauer had two hits for the United States in the cleanup spot once again on Thursday night.  R.A. Dickey was much more effective as the starter, pitching five innings allowing just one hit (the Ramirez homer) and striking out four.  The American bullpen had been strong during the tournament, and Craig Kimbrel was being considered as the best reliever in the tournament.  Kimbrel allowed three hits and two runs in the ninth inning.

Steve Cishek was the guy who impressed me the most on Thursday, entering a tough spot in the seventh inning with two outs, forcing a Miguel Tejada groundout, and then pitching a perfect, seven pitch eighth inning.  Cishek is a guy who could be an All-Star for Miami in 2013.

Moving on from Thursday's game, the United States now takes on Puerto Rico to determine the second team from this group to advance to the Semi-Finals.  Puerto Rico will start Nelson Figueroa on the hill, while the United States will have Ryan Vogelsong on the mound.

Vogelsong was pretty strong in his last start against Italy on Saturday night in Phoenix.

Unfortunately, the United States cannot replace David Wright on their roster until after this round, as Joe Torre says he does not expect to get Wright back for the rest of the tournament.  Wright had accounted for 10 RBI in the first four games.

Willie Bloomquist will make another start at third base more than likely on Friday and then again on Saturday should the United States win on Friday.

Who would replace David Wright in the next round is still in question.