World Baseball Classic Best Bets Odds, Picks & Predictions: Tuesday (3/21)

Thrilling, suspenseful, and action-packed. Those are just a few words to describe the World Baseball Classic and all of the games that we’ve seen up to this point. Last night’s semifinal between Japan and Mexico was a 5-4 instant classic, which saw the Japanese side prevail on a two-run, walk-off double by Munetaka Murakami in the bottom of the 9th.

They’ll take on the United States in the Championship game tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET from loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. The USA didn’t make their semifinal so dramatic as they trounced Cuba 14-2 courtesy of four home runs and 14 total hits.

Let’s dive deeper into tonight’s finale and get the best bet locked in.

World Baseball Classic Championship Game Best Bet

USA (-125) vs. Japan (+105)

The pitching matchup for tonight’s World Baseball Classic Championship sees a matchup between Merrill Kelly for the USA and Shota Imanaga for Japan. Kelly comes into this one having made one start this tournament, a 3.0-inning outing against Columbia. The right-hander allowed a pair of earned runs on four hits and two walks, taking a no-decision in the 3-2 win.

Imanaga is set to make his third appearance of the tournament, entering at 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 0.75 WHIP over 4.0 innings of work. The southpaw picked up a hold in the 13-4 win over Korea, lasting 3.0 innings and allowing one earned run on three hits. He followed that up with a 1.0-inning scoreless outing in the 9-3 quarterfinal win over Italy on the 16th.

It’s anyone’s guess as to who wins this Championship matchup in Miami tonight. The Japanese ran through the group stage with ease, smoked Italy in the quarterfinal round, and really only saw their first challenge last night against Mexico. As for the United States, after dropping their opener to Mexico, they seem to be hitting their stride right now, scoring 23 combined runs in their two recent playoff wins.

One thing is for sure, and that’s that these two teams can hit the cover off the ball. They’re first and second in the rankings in both runs scored (53 vs. 49) and OPS (.986 vs. .969) this tournament, with Japan having the edge in both categories. The Asian squad comes in slashing .314/.471/.515 as a team, while the Americans are at .310/.425/.542.

With the USA’s pitching being its weakness, allowing 25 runs over 52.0 innings, you can expect that they’ll have to rely on their bats to get it done tonight. All things considered, I think we’ll see a lot of runs, and I’ll lock in the over.