U.S. beats Dominican Republic, advances to WBC final

The United States relied on a dominant pitching effort to contain the Dominican Republic’s powerful lineup, moving one step closer to its first World Baseball Classic title in nine years after winning what amounted to a championship preview.

The United States defeated the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Sunday at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. The Americans have reached the final for the third straight tournament and will face the winner of the Italy-Venezuela semifinal, scheduled for Monday, in Tuesday’s championship game at the same venue. The United States won its first WBC title in 2017 but fell short in the 2023 final, losing to Japan led by superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Two of the tournament’s strongest contenders traded all three runs on solo home runs. The Dominican Republic struck first when Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays launched a solo drive over the left-field wall in the bottom of the second inning against Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes, the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner. The blast was the Dominican Republic’s 15th home run of the tournament, setting a new record for the most by a team in a single WBC.

After that swing, the U.S. pitching staff settled in. Seven American pitchers, including Skenes, combined to allow one run on eight hits with one walk across nine innings. The Dominican Republic lineup, which had erupted for 51 runs over its previous five games, managed only a single run in this matchup.

The U.S. offense produced just enough support. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles battled through a nine-pitch at-bat before driving a solo home run over the right-field wall against Dominican starter Luis Severino of the Athletics to tie the game. One out later, Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox turned on a sinker from reliever Gregory Soto of the Pittsburgh Pirates and sent it beyond the right-center field fence to give the United States the lead. From there, pitchers on both sides locked into a tense duel.

The game ended on a controversial strike call. With two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth, the Dominican Republic had a chance to tie the score at 2-1. U.S. closer Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres threw a full-count slider to Geraldo Perdomo of the Arizona Diamondbacks that appeared clearly low. Statcast, Major League Baseball’s pitch-tracking system, also showed the pitch well outside the strike zone. The home plate umpire nevertheless called it a strike, ending the game abruptly.

Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols said after the game that he did not want to dwell on the final pitch. “I don’t want to focus on the last pitch,” he said. “I have no intention of blaming the opponent.” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said he hopes an automated ball-strike system will be introduced in the next tournament to prevent similar controversies.


조영우 기자 jero@donga.com