Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony on Sunday homered, and the US limited the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to win a thrilling semi-final 2-1 and move one win from capturing their second World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship.
The loaded US roster led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge reached their third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The US are to face the winner of this morning’s (Taiwan time) semi-final between Italy and Venezuela a day later.
The Dominicans reached the semis for the first time since winning the WBC title in 2013, but missing the championship was not the goal for a roster that featured six players who finished among the top 10 in Most Valuable Player voting last year and cruised through the early rounds of this WBC.
Photo: AP
They faced their biggest test of the tournament against Skenes (2-0), who gave up one run on six hits through 4 1/3 innings, and the US bullpen, which held the Dominicans scoreless the rest of the way.
The Dominican Republic threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodriguez drew a walk and advanced to third against Mason Miller. With two outs, Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo for his second save.
Junior Caminero hit a solo drive off Skenes in the second to give the Dominicans a record 15 homers in the tournament, surpassing the mark set by Mexico in 2009. He finished the tournament hitting .350.
The matchup between the two star-studded lineups did not fail to deliver big moments, especially on defense.
Judge got it started in the third with a 95.7mph (154kph) laser from right field to get Fernando Tatis Jr at third. The Yankees All-Star then found himself on the other side of a huge defensive play in the fifth when Rodriguez — an inning after being hit on the wrist by a 98mph fastball from Skenes — scaled the center-field wall to rob Judge of a home run.
Henderson, starting at third base over Alex Bregman, homered off Luis Severino to tie it in the fourth before Anthony hit the go ahead homer, connecting on a 3-2 sinker from loser Gregory Soto.
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