World Baseball Classic Morning Review: Dominican Republic, South Korea, USA and Puerto Rico advance

In yesterday’s cases, several teams continued to show why they are favorites to go all the way, while others were faced with scenarios they had to win to stay alive during the Classic, hoping to see their ticket through to the quarter-finals.

Dominican Republic 10, Israel 1

The Dominican Republic continued its dominant run through Pool D, beating Israel 10-1 in Miami to officially advance to the quarterfinals.

The turning point came in the second inning when the Dominican line-up completely turned the game around. After a bases-loaded walk by Geraldo Perdomo opened the scoring, Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a grand slam on a 75-mph changeup by Israeli starter Ryan Prager, sending him over the left-field wall to break open the game.

This was the first grand slam for a Dominican player in classical history.

Tatis wasn’t done yet. Later in the game, he added a two-run single and finished with six RBIs, setting another Team Dominican Republic record and one of the highest totals in classic history, just shy of Ken Griffey Jr.’s record of seven RBIs. in 2006 vs. South Africa. Another standout moment came in the fourth inning when Oneil Cruz launched a solo homer off the bat at 115.9 mph, showcasing the raw power that has made the Dominican lineup one of the most feared in the tournament.

Israel struggled offensively throughout the game, managing only two hits and never posing a serious threat to the Dominican pitching staff, led by Brayan Bello, who pitched five innings and struck out seven.

The win keeps the Dominican Republic undefeated at 3-0 and guarantees them a place in the quarter-finals alongside Venezuela in Pool D. The Dominicans now face Venezuela on March 11 in a match that will determine the winner of Pool D and could influence their quarter-final placement.

South Korea 7, Australia 2

South Korea produced one of the most critical performances of the tournament, beating Australia 7-2 in Pool C at the Tokyo Dome in a match full of tiebreak implications. South Korea needed a win by at least five points while two or less could advance, while Australia would have advanced with a loss by four points or less.

The momentum of the match started early thanks to design hitter Moon Bo-gyeong. In the second inning, Moon crushed a 450-foot two-run homer off Australian starter Lachlan Wells to give South Korea the lead. He followed with an RBI double that capped a four-run start over three innings and later added an RBI single in the fifth, finishing with three hits and four RBIs and increasing his tournament total to 11 RBIs, by far the most of any player thus far in the Classic.

Australia threatened briefly in the fifth when Robbie Glendinning launched a solo home run, cutting the deficit to four runs – still within the margin that would have forced a tiebreak. South Korea quickly restored the five-point buffer, but tension remained. In the eighth, Travis Bazzana singled in a run to make it 6-2 and temporarily put Australia in position to advance again.

There was no more pressure in the ninth inning either. A grounder was deviated by reliever Jack O’Loughlin, allowing Park Hae-min to reach third base, and Ahn Hyun-min’s sacrifice fly scored the run that restored the critical five-run lead to 7-2. Australia still had a chance in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on, but Jung Hoo Lee made a diving catch in right field on a deep drive by Rixon Wingrove, keeping South Korea alive.

With the win, South Korea advanced to the WBC quarter-finals for the first time since 2009, joining Japan as a qualifier for Pool C. For Australia, the loss was crushing: they had advanced several times within one series, but ultimately fell short in one of the tournament’s most dramatic finishes.

US 5, Mexico 3

One of the most anticipated matches of the pool stage took place in Houston, where Team USA defeated Mexico 5-3 in a match between the two undefeated teams in Pool B. With both sides entering at 2-0, the winner would take control of the group and move significantly closer to securing a place in the quarterfinals.

The United States immediately threatened in the first inning after Aaron Judge singled and Kyle Schwarber and Alex Bregman walked to load the bases, but Mexico starter Manny Barreda escaped the jam by striking out Cal Raleigh, leaving the game scoreless and energizing the divided Houston crowd.

Mexico then showed its defense in the second inning when Brice Turang doubled and Roman Anthony tried to score from first base, but a perfect relay to Alejandro Kirk cut him down at the plate to secure the scoreless ballgame.

However, the momentum of the game completely reversed in the third inning. Mexico looked poised to rally after a Jarren Duran single, but Judge fired a 93.5-mph throw from right field to strike out Joey Ortiz in an attempt to advance to third, ending the threat and sparking American chants from the sold-out crowd.

Moments later, the judge set the crime on fire. After Bryce Harper reached base, the American captain roped an opposite-field two-run homer to right field to open the scoring. The inning snowballed quickly as Roman Anthony followed with a three-run home run, capping a five-run third inning that proved decisive.

Meanwhile, Paul Skenes dominated in his WBC debut, reaching 100 miles per hour and holding Mexico to just one hit over four innings with seven strikeouts.

Despite the early deficit, Mexico battled back, thanks in large part to Jarren Duran, who had the biggest offensive performance of the night, launching solo home runs in both the sixth and eighth innings to keep Mexico within striking distance.

However, Garrett Whitlock closed the door and secured the victory for Team USA. The win moves them to 3-0 in Pool B as they firmly secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Puerto Rico 4, Cuba 1

Puerto Rico continued its strong start in Pool A with a 4-1 win over Cuba in San Juan, a result that keeps the host nation firmly in control of one of the tournament’s tightest groups. After a rain delay delayed the first pitch by more than an hour, the match got underway with both teams looking to build early momentum, and Puerto Rico did just that with key attacking bursts in the middle innings.

The turning point came in the second inning when Puerto Rican captain Martín Maldonado hit a bases-clearing double down the stretch, opening the scoring and putting his team up 3-0.

Puerto Rico added an insurance run in the fifth inning when Willi Castro doubled in a run to extend the lead to 4-0. That run later proved valuable, as Cuba was able to break through in the sixth inning with an RBI double by Alfredo Despaigne, which yielded Cuba’s only run of the game.

During the night, Puerto Rico’s lineup combined for just six hits while managing four, while Cuba was held to just two hits and one run, leaving seven runners on base. So far, this type of offense has not been characteristic of Cuba, which scored ten points in the first two games.

Other scores:

Venezuela 4, Nicaragua 0

Columbia 4, Panama 3

Great Britain 8, Brazil 1

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