Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Sun, Mar 15, the Team USA baseball club played against the Dominican Republic side in a major matchup that could very well determine who would win the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The Americans had gone through a tough few days in Houston after losing to Italy on Tue, Mar 10 and almost being eliminated from the tournament in Pool B play. Thankfully, Italy defeated Mexico and the US side was a runner-up in group play for the second tournament in a row. On Friday the 13th, they played against their northern neighbors in Canada and won after five gritty runs were nearly erased by the Canadians, but the star relievers out of the bullpen in David Bednar, Garrett Whitlock and Mason Miller took care of business. Now going to Miami for the Semifinals, the US would have to play against a loaded team from the Dominican Republic that hadn’t lost a single game in the tournament so far. As the winners of Pool D, the Dominicans had one of the most high-octane batting orders in WBC history. With high averages in runs scored and a solid pitching staff as well, the DR was hungry to win its second title in World Baseball Classic history. The Americans had Paul Skenes lined up to start after a great outing versus Mexico on Mon, Mar 9, while the Dominican Republic countered with Luis Severino. In spite of the tough week for USA manager Mark DeRosa not knowing that there would still be a scenario where his team would be eliminated in pool play before the loss against Italy, a bounce-back is always possible. But versus this Dominican team, very little mistakes could be made. Especially when facing some of the best hitters in the world. Skenes had a lot of weight on his shoulders, but he was ready to take on the challenge in the biggest game of his baseball life so far. Let’s see how this showdown at loanDepot Park went.

The first chance for the USA came in the first inning when Aaron Judge got a two-out single against Severino and Kyle Schwarber got hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, Gunnar Henderson grounded out to Ketel Marte at second base to squander the opportunity. Skenes threw a good 1-2-3 first inning, and following a double play hit into by Brice Turang that ended the top of the second, Skenes had to face the middle of the Dominican Republic lineup. After getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr to ground out and striking out Manny Machado, Skenes faced Junior Caminero, a good young hitter who is the star player for the Tampa Bay Rays. On a 1-2 count, Caminero hit a ball deep to left center field and it went over the wall for a home run. The Dominicans drew the first blood in this grudge match, but Skenes got the final out of the inning.

In the top of the third, the US had a third straight opportunity with a runner on base as Bobby Witt Jr got a lead off single and Bryce Harper hit a solid double down the right field line. Witt was held at third base, but with two runners in scoring position and Judge coming up, this was a golden chance for the Americans to score. However, Judge struck out looking and so did Schwarber against Severino. The US was making the starter they were facing work, but they were not able to break through early on. In the bottom of the third, Skenes hit Geraldo Perdomo on the back foot with one out but got a force out with Fernando Tatis Jr up at the plate. With Tatis at first, Marte came up and hit a ball out to right field for a single. Tatis was running towards third base, but Judge fielded the ball and launched a good throw towards Henderson, who tagged a sliding Tatis out to end the inning. An amazing defensive play that robbed a potential rally for the DR. With Juan Soto on deck, it was a definite dodged bullet for Skenes and the US.

In the top of the fourth, Severino returned to pitch on a high count and there was action in the Dominican bullpen. In a long nine-pitch at-bat, Henderson swung at a pitch in the middle of the plate and blasted it out to right center field. The ball made it over the fence and the US had gotten on the board. A clutch homer for Henderson, who had his second big fly of the tourney. After Will Smith flew out, Albert Pujols went to his bullpen and Gregory Soto was brought in for a lefty-lefty matchup against 21 year-old left fielder Roman Anthony, who already hit a home run in the tournament in pool play. On a full count pitch, Anthony swung at another ball in the zone and it went a long way to center field. Julio Rodriguez watched the ball sail over the wall for another solo home run. The Americans had taken the lead with two homers by two good young left-handed batters. Another pitching change was made later in the inning, but no further runs were added on. In the bottom of the fourth, Skenes faced another jam when Guerrero hit a double with one out and an infield single by Machado that could have been an RBI if not for Witt stopping the ball’s trajectory into the outfield. Caminero came up and Skenes got him to ground the ball to Witt, who tossed the ball over to Turang for a force out. The double play didn’t happen because Turang had a problem controlling the ball out of his glove. So, with runners on the corners with two outs, Skenes had to face Rodriguez and on a 1-2 count Skenes threw a pitch inside that hit the center fielder. The bases were now loaded for Austin Wells and on another 1-2 count, Skenes jammed Wells and the ball flew harmlessly in the air into the glove of Anthony to end the inning. Another amazing jam that Skenes had somehow escaped out of to keep the lead 2-1 in favor of the US.

The fifth inning featured Skenes giving up back-to-back singles to Tatis and Marte and DeRosa went to his bullpen. Tyler Rogers came in as a roster addition for the knockout stage, with him facing Juan Soto with one out. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Soto hit the ball straight to Witt, who stepped on second base and threw the ball over to Harper at first to end the inning with a big double play. Both teams did nothing in the sixth and Abner Uribe shut down the three batters he faced in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh inning, David Bednar entered to pitch following his amazing escape act versus Canada on Friday night. Bednar got Rodriguez to pop out, but then gave up a double to Wells and a single by Perdomo to center field could have guaranteed a run. But Wells was held at third base by Carlos Febles in a huge missed chance. A potential pinch runner could have been used by the DR and a run could have scored there. Instead, with runners on the corners it was up to Tatis to get the job done. But Bednar got him to swing at a low hanging pitch for a humongous strikeout. It was Marte’s turn to be a hero, but he struck out as well to end the inning. Bednar escaped out of another tight situation in the Knockout Round, making Harry Houdini look like an amateur.

In the top of the eighth, Seranthony Dominguez got a double play to hold the US scoreless. In the bottom of the eighth, some defensive changes were made by the Americans as Byron Buxton entered to play in center field, pushing Pete Crow-Armstrong to left. Anthony was out of the game and Ernie Clement, who was already in the game as a pinch-runner for Schwarber in the top of the eighth, stayed in as the designated hitter. Garrett Whitlock entered to pitch, with him striking out Soto, getting Guerrero to ground out straight to him and struck out Machado to end the eighth.

In the top of the ninth, Camilo Doval entered to pitch for the Dominican Republic and he had a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the ninth, it was up to Mason Miller to close out this game. Miller had gotten two saves so far in this tournament and he was looking for a third to get Team USA back into the Gold Medal game. Miller struck out Caminero to start out the inning, then lost command a little bit and walked Rodriguez. With the game-tying runner on base once again for the DR, Pujols decided to use a pinch-hitter for Wells in Oneil Cruz, who definitely had a dangerous bat. With two home runs in the tourney so far, Cruz was seeking to be a hero for his native country’s team. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Miller threw a wild pitch that advanced Rodriguez to second base. With the game-tying run in scoring position, the pressure was on the fireball closer now. On a 2-2 count, Cruz hit a ball up the middle that was fielded by Witt, who threw the ball to first base and the ball barely got into Harper’s glove a beat ahead of Cruz’s foot touching the base. Rodriguez advanced to third base and with two outs, the game was riding literally on the bat of one Geraldo Perdomo. The at-bat went a long time as Perdomo fouled off a few pitches on a full count against Miller. On the eighth pitch, Miller threw a slider that landed a little below the strike zone, but home plate umpire Cory Blaser called it a strike. It was game over. The Americans had won, albeit controversially. If the automated ball-strike challenge system was in place for the World Baseball Classic and the DR still had a challenge to use, the call would have been reversed and it would be ball four with runners on the corners. Tatis was due up next and who knew what would have happened next.

But the US barely survived as the Dominicans left eight runners on base. Team USA had their missed opportunities as well and Judge had a potential home run robbed by Rodriguez in the top of the fifth. But in the end, it was the stellar performance of six pitchers that got the Americans back into the Gold Medal game. Shutting down some of the best hitters in the game is definitely a well-deserved accomplishment and a sign of a potential champion. Three years ago, the US suffered heartbreak on the championship stage against Samurai Japan. This time, they will face someone different as Japan was shockingly defeated in the quarterfinals by Venezuela, who will play against Team Italy in their semifinal match on Mon, Mar 16. So, it will either be a rematch of a quarterfinal matchup from three years ago for the US in Miami or a rematch against the only team to defeat them so far in this tourney in Italy, who hung on to an 8-0 lead that was cut down to two runs to barely win. For now, the Americans can relish having a chance to play for their second WBC title and prepare for the championship game on St. Patrick’s Day.