New article: U.S. celebrate their first WBC title read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/sports/item/3078-u-s-celebrate-their-first-wbc-title

The United States broke through to win their first World Baseball Classic title with an emphatic 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico in Los Angeles on Wednesday behind the stellar pitching of Marcus Stroman and a 13-hit attack.

Puerto Rico came in with a spotless 7-0 record in the 16-team tournament but the Americans (6-2) were not to be denied and the losers finished runners-up for the second straight WBC.

Stroman was sensational, throwing six no-hit innings after yielding six hits in a row in a four-run first inning to Puerto Rico in a 6-5 second-round loss.

After the gold medal ceremony on the field, the 25-year-old Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

"I want to thank every single guy on this team. It's been a real special experience," said Stroman. "That's a great team over there (Puerto Rico). It's an All-Star lineup, one through nine."

Stroman faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings with Carlos Beltran the only man to reach, after a walk leading off the second inning. Beltran was erased when Yadier Molina bounced into a double play.

Stroman, who struck out three, had his no-hitter snapped in the seventh when Angel Pagan led off with an opposite field double, and the right-hander exited to a standing ovation from a crowd exceeding 51,000.

"I got a chance to manage for our country, coaches got a chance to coach for our country, the players got to play for our country," said an emotional Jim Leyland, the U.S. manager.

The U.S. team jumped to a 2-0 lead off starter Seth Lugo in the third inning when Ian Kinsler crushed a two-run homer to left-center.

The Americans doubled their advantage in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen.

They tacked on three more runs in the seventh, on a two-run single by Brandon Crawford and an RBI-single by Giancarlo Stanton, and McCutchen drove home the last with an infield single in the eighth.

The United States had advanced to their first WBC title game with a 2-1 semi-finals victory over Japan, winners of the first two tournaments.