MIAMI — The World Baseball Classic semifinal between Team USA and the Dominican Republic delivered on every ounce of its pregame hype. Solo home runs. Dominant pitching. Jaw-dropping defense. A sold-out crowd of 36,337 at loanDepot Park split between two WBC teams and roaring on every pitch.
And then the final pitch happened.
Team USA escaped with a 2-1 victory on Sunday night to advance to its third straight WBC final. But the game’s last moment has sparked fierce debate across the baseball world.
Skenes, Severino set the tone in a pitching duel
The game was billed as a clash of the two most talented rosters in the WBC. The lineups featured a combined 56 All-Star selections, 31 Silver Sluggers, five MVPs and one Cy Young winner. But from the opening pitch, the arms took over.
Dominican Republic starter Luis Severino, the former Yankees right-hander, came out firing. He hit 99 mph six times and opened the game by striking out Bobby Witt Jr. and Bryce Harper swinging. In the third inning, Severino punched out Yankees captain Judge and Kyle Schwarber in succession to strand two runners in scoring position. The ex-Yankees hurler pounded his chest after the strikeouts and let out a roar.
Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, took the ball for Team USA. He was not dominant, but he was effective enough against a Dominican lineup that included Yankees catcher Wells and a host of All-Stars. Skenes gutted through 4 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and one run with two strikeouts and no walks.
The only run Skenes allowed came in the second inning. Junior Caminero crushed a 1-2 sweeper 401 feet to give the Dominicans a 1-0 lead. It was the team’s record-setting 15th homer of the tournament.
The call that ended it all
The Yankees’ bullpen duo of David Bednar and closer Mason Miller were among the American relievers who shut the door. Tyler Rogers, Griffin Jax, Yankees reliever Bednar, Garrett Whitlock and Miller combined to allow zero runs and just two hits over the final 4 2/3 innings.
But the ninth inning nearly unraveled. Miller struck out Caminero to start the frame. Then Julio Rodriguez worked a walk. A passed ball moved Rodriguez to second. Oneil Cruz, pinch-hitting for Yankees catcher Austin Wells, grounded out to short, but Rodriguez advanced to third. The tying run stood 90 feet from home plate with two outs. Fernando Tatis Jr., one of the Dominican Republic’s best hitters in the tournament, waited on deck.
Geraldo Perdomo stepped in and battled. He fouled off back-to-back 101 mph fastballs from Miller. The count ran full. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Miller unleashed an 89 mph slider. It sailed below the zone. Home plate umpire Cory Blaser punched Perdomo out. Strike three. Game over.
Miller threw his arms up in celebration. Perdomo threw his hands up in disbelief.
“One-hundred percent a ball,” Perdomo said. “It’s all right. It’s baseball.”
The WBC does not use the Automated Ball-Strike system that MLB is rolling out for the 2026 season. A league official said ABS was unavailable for the tournament because some of the pool play venues did not have the technology. Perdomo had no option to challenge.
Yankees players on both sides of the fight
Aaron Judge nearly extended the United States’ lead in the fifth inning, crushing a 98 mph fastball from Juan Mejía toward deep center. Julio Rodríguez, however, timed his jump at the wall perfectly and pulled the ball back to prevent a home run. Judge made his biggest impact on defense.
In the fourth inning, he robbed Juan Soto with a sliding catch and later fired a perfect throw from right field to cut down Geraldo Perdomo trying to reach third on Ketel Marte’s single. One inning earlier, Judge’s powerful throw erased Fernando Tatis Jr. attempting to advance from first to third, ending the inning and stopping the Dominican Republic’s momentum.
Yankees closer Bednar retired the side in the seventh with two huge strikeouts of Tatis and Ketel Marte to preserve the lead.
On the Dominican side, Yankees catcher Wells doubled in the seventh and helped fuel a late rally before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth. Yankees infielder Amed Rosario and Yankees reliever Camilo Doval also suited up for the Dominican Republic.
Solo shots from Henderson and Anthony proved decisive
Team USA’s offense managed just two runs, but they came at the perfect time. Gunnar Henderson led off the fourth inning with a 400-foot solo blast off Severino to tie the game at 1-1. One out later, after Gregory Soto entered in relief, Roman Anthony launched a solo shot to center field to give the Americans a 2-1 lead they never relinquished.
Anthony, a late addition to the Team USA roster after Corbin Carroll broke his hamate bone, has been one of the breakout stories of this WBC. The minor leaguer had purchased a ticket to watch the 2023 WBC final in the same building.
DeRosa called the semifinal “high-level baseball at its finest.” Team USA first baseman Bryce Harper, who will face the Yankees and Judge in the regular season, agreed.
“I think fans in baseball and all over the world watched this game tonight and had a blast watching it,” Harper said. “That’s two juggernauts going at it right there.”
Dominican manager Albert Pujols, the future Hall of Famer, refused to let the controversial finish define the night.
“I’m not gonna focus on that last pitch,” Pujols said in Spanish. “This has been a tremendous game between two tremendous teams. I feel incredibly grateful for the guys who represented us in this Classic. Once more, we raised our flag high in this Classic and left our mark, and I think our country is very proud.”
Team USA will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Venezuela and Italy in the WBC championship game Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at loanDepot Park. For the Yankees players scattered across both rosters, including Judge, Bednar, Wells, Rosario and Doval, the focus now shifts back to the Bronx and a Yankees season that opens in less than two weeks.
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