The Dominican Republic and Venezuela are ready to set the stage for Pool C as they face off at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Want to watch the game? Check out the live stream provided at the end of the article, but before we get you that, let's break down these teams matchups.
You might want to look at the predictions I made earlier for this game. It will be a matchup dictated by offense as both teams have top MLB hitters in their lineups.
The reigning A.L. MVP, Miguel Cabrera and World Series champions Pablo Sandoval and Marco Scutaro will be donning Venezuelan jerseys in this tournament. They only comprise about a quarter of the present and past MLB all-stars in the Venezuelan roster.
For the Dominican Republic, they are looking to advance further into the World Baseball Classic. They have over 100 baseball players in the majors and are one of the places where major league baseball gets talents year after year, generation after generation.
Without a doubt, Jose Reyes and Robinson Cano are two of the more popular Dominicans in the game following Manny Ramirez's and Pedro Martinez's exits from the game. Now, it will be there responsibility to take the Dominican team to glory as they have guys like Edwin Encarnacion, Hanley Ramirez and Carlos Santana backing them up.
On the mound for the Dominican Republic will be Edison Volquez, pitcher of the San Diego Padres and for Venezuela, they'll have Anibal Sanchez.
Both pitchers have had their success. Both have struggled as well. Of course, international competitions are a completely different story from the majors, so it will be interesting to see what happens Thursday evening.
Don't miss the action. Click here to watch the live stream of Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela.
