2013 World Baseball Classic – Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |
 United States
|
| Dates | March 17–19 |
| Teams | 4 (from 3 continents) |
| Defending champions |
 Japan (2009) |
| Final positions | |
Champions
 |
 Dominican Republic (1st title)
|
Runner-up
 |
 Puerto Rico
|
Third place
 |
Japan
|
| Fourth place |
 Netherlands
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Most Valuable Player |
Robinson Canó
|
|
← 2009
2017 →
|
|
The championship round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic was held at AT&T Park, San Francisco, California, United States from March 17 to 19, 2013.
The championship round was a single-elimination tournament. In the final (championship) game, the team with the higher winning percentage of games in the tournament were to be the home team. If the teams competing in the final had identical winning percentages in the tournament, then World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) would conduct a coin flip or draw to determine the home team.
The Dominican Republic defeated the Netherlands and Puerto Rico to win their first World Baseball Classic championship. Robinson Canó was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Two time World Baseball Classic defending champions Japan faces off against surprising upstart Puerto Rico in the first semi-final matchup. Puerto Rico scores a run from the first inning and scored two additional runs from a home run by Alex Ríos as the Japanese team struggle to catch up. Japan, however, only managed to score at least a run; Seiichi Uchikawa made a baserun snafu in an effort to steal second but was caught up between first and second bases as catcher Yadier Molina tags Uchikawa for a second out. Despite the efforts, Japan eventually loses to Puerto Rico 3-1 as their championship streak from two previous World Baseball Classic games has ended and the Japanese team gracefully bows out to the stands and the Puerto Rican baseball team after their defeat.
In the final, Samuel Deduno started for the Dominican Republic, while Giancarlo Alvarado started for Puerto Rico. 35,703 fans attended the game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. An additional 50,000 Dominican fans watched the game at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In Puerto Rico, the final was the most watched sporting event for the past year with nearly three-fourths of all households tuning in.
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