Yadi returns to camp after deep Classic run
This browser does not support the video element.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Following a run to the title game of the World Baseball Classic and a jaunt to Puerto Rico to celebrate the country's second-place finish, Yadier Molina returned to Florida late on Thursday to finish out the remaining days of Spring Training with the Cardinals.
Manager Mike Matheny said to expect Molina back in the lineup on Sunday. It will be the catcher's first Grapefruit League game since March 5, though he got plenty of work while away. Molina appeared in six games for Puerto Rico and went 8-for-24 with two homers, six RBIs and four runs scored.
After winning the tournament's silver medal, the Puerto Rican team boarded a charter flight (reportedly paid for by Molina) for a quick visit to their island. Puerto Rico hosted a parade and a pep rally for the runners-up.
But word of the team's trip to Puerto Rico apparently did not sit well with some members of Team USA, which faced Puerto Rico in the tournament finals. Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said that the U.S. team used the Puerto Rican team's planned homecoming visit as bulletin-board material, believing these preparations were an indication that Puerto Rico assumed it would win.
This browser does not support the video element.
The U.S. ended up blanking Puerto Rico, 8-0, in the final on Wednesday. A day later, Molina told ESPN that he was reaching out to Jones and requesting an apology for his comments.
"Adam Jones … is talking about things he doesn't know about," Molina said. "He really has to get informed because he shouldn't have said those comments, let alone in public and mocking the way [preparations] were made. He has to apologize to the Puerto Rican people. … He didn't know what this means to [our] people."