USA wins Futures Game 6 to 4

Watching the Futures Game today was more than baseball mind candy. It was a whole buffet table. It was great to see players I have written about in action: Bryce Harper, Paul Goldschmidt, Jose Altuve, Liam Hendriks, Dayan Viciendo and Devin Mesoraco. There were many other great talents I am sure to write about in the future too.


The USA pitching dominated the whole game except the sixth when Drew Pomeranz was lit up by the World team like he was tossing batting practice. All four World runs were charged to Pomeranz although the fourth was driven in on a triple by Jurickson Profar off Kyle Gibson. Five of the World's eight hits came off Pomeranz and Gibson but the rest off the USA pitchers held them in check.


Jason Kipnis set the tone for USA by blasting a lead off home run to start the game. He and Grant Green who replaced him at second shined in the top spot going a combined 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBI. The catchers Mesoraco and Austin Romine also provided offensive spark going a combined 3 for 3 with two runs and one RBI. On the flipside Harper and Goldschmidt were a disappointing 0 for 8 as Harper looked like the over matched 18 year old he is.


Altuve was 2 for 3 for the World but it was Alfredo Silverio who opened the floodgates for the World in the sixth with his two run home run off Pomeranz. The USA was up 3-0 heading into the sixth and were trailing 4-3 after the World barrage. Then in the eighth Gary Brown led an offensive assault getting the first hit followed by Green, Tim Beckham and Romine allowing the USA to go ahead 6-4. Jarred Cosart picked up the win because he pitched the top of the eighth and Matt Harvey earned the save.


With this victory the USA is now ahead 7 to 6 in the series. I think it is a great format and gives a glimpse into what the MLB All Star games in the future will look like. It was mentioned during the game that 30 players in Tuesday's game played in past Futures Games including recent MVPs Joey Votto and Josh Hamilton. For this game the future was today.