Final Score — USA 2, Dominican Republic 1
Team USA edges out the Dominican Republic after two homers in the fourth and a lockdown performance from Paul Skenes and the bullpen. Read below for the live recap of the WBC Semifinal in Miami.
Pregame
Team USA's starting lineup features eight All-Stars, with reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes taking the bump for the stars and stripes.
- Bobby Witt Jr. - SS
- Bryce Harper - 1B
- Aaron Judge - RF
- Kyle Schwarber - DH
- Gunnar Henderson - 3B
- Will Smith - C
- Roman Anthony - LF
- Brice Turang - 2B
- Pete Crow-Armstrong - CF
- Paul Skenes - SP
Bottom 2nd — Dominican Republic 1, USA 0
Junior Caminero takes a two-strike hanging sweeper deep to put Dominican Republic up early. The solo homer is the first hit of the game for the Dominican lineup.
Top 3rd — Dominican Republic 1, USA 0
Bobby Witt Jr. strokes a one-out single to left to give Team USA a baserunner, and he races to third when Bryce Harper rockets a double to right. With runners on second and third and one out, Luis Severino gets back-to-back strikeouts against Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber to keep the U.S. off the board. Dominican Republic leads by one.
Top 4th — USA 2, Dominican Republic 1
Gunnar Henderson works a 3-2 count against Severino before evening the score with a 400-foot bomb to right-center. Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols opts to go to the bullpen. Two batters later, Roman Anthony smokes another solo homer to put Team USA in front. Henderson and Anthony each have an OPS over 1.000 for the tournament.
Bottom 5th — USA 2, Dominican Republic 1
Paul Skenes gets Geraldo Perdomo to fly out to start the inning, but Mark DeRosa goes to the pen after back-to-back singles from the Dominicans. Tyler Rogers enters and gets a huge double play groundout from Juan Soto to preserve the lead. Skenes finishes his outing with one earned run, zero walks, and two K's.
Bottom 7th — USA 2, Dominican Republic 1
After inducing a popout from Julio Rodriguez to start the inning, David Bednar soon gets into trouble. Austin Wells doubles to right, and Geraldo Perdomo follows with a single that pushes Wells to third. With runners on the corners and Fernando Tatis Jr. at the plate, Perdomo steals second. Bednar then comes up with a huge punchout against Tatis to bring Ketel Marte to bat. Once again, the right-hander delivers, striking out Marte to escape the jam. Team USA hangs on to its one-run lead.
Bottom 9th — USA 2, Dominican Republic 1
Mason Miller enters to close the game for Team USA, beginning the inning with a four-pitch strikeout of Junior Caminero. He then walks Julio Rodriguez to put the tying run on base, and things get worse when a wild pitch moves Rodriguez to second. After a groundout from Oneil Cruz pushes Rodriguez to third, Geraldo Perdomo steps to the plate with two outs. Miller and Perdomo battle to a 3-2 count before Miller ices the game with a called strike slider. Team USA advances to the WBC Championship to face the winner of tomorrow night's Venezuela-Italy game.
