Pena sees dad's team lose, but happy for Jones

Son of DR manager, O's catcher revels in All-Star's home run robbery

March 19th, 2017

SARASOTA, Fla. -- has divided loyalties in the World Baseball Classic.
Pena, an Orioles catcher, is the son of Dominican Republic manager Tony Pena, and played for his father when their home country won the World Baseball Classic four years ago, but he also loved ' home run-robbing catch on Manny Machado in Team USA's 6-3 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday night.
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"Unbelievable. It was a great catch. It couldn't happen to a better person. It was pretty cool when Machado tipped his cap to Jonesy," Pena said.

"I'm rooting for the Dominican the whole time because my dad is there," Pena said. "It's pretty cool to see your teammates go after it the way they did and play 100 percent for their country."
Showalter revels in Jones' grab on Machado
Pena knows his dad had a difficult job massaging the egos of some of the Dominican players.
:: 2017 World Baseball Classic ::
"Everybody thinks it's easy to manage the Dominican team with all those All-Stars, but it's tough at the same time when you have to make a decision what lineup to put, with all those superstars and what people are going to think back home in the Dominican," Pena said.
Now that the Dominican Republic is out, Pena who also holds a U.S. passport, is rooting for Team USA or Puerto Rico to meet Team Netherlands. is with Jones on Team USA and is on Team Netherlands.
"I've still some got some teammates there, and I know a lot of guys from Team Puerto Rico. I've got to root for the Netherlands, too because Schoopy is there," Pena said.
"It's going to be good for the game, and you can see all the talent that's around the world."
The World Baseball Classic runs through Wednesday. In the U.S., games air live exclusively in English on MLB Network and on an authenticated basis via MLBNetwork.com/watch, while ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN provide the exclusive Spanish-language coverage. MLB.TV Premium subscribers in the U.S. have access to watch every tournament game live on any of the streaming service's 400-plus supported devices. The tournament is being distributed internationally across all forms of television, internet, mobile and radio in territories excluding the U.S., Puerto Rico and Japan. Get tickets for the Championship Round at Dodger Stadium, while complete coverage -- including schedules, video, stats and gear -- is available at WorldBaseballClassic.com.