MIAMI — There is nowhere lonelier in baseball than the pitcher’s mound, and there might never have been a lonelier time to occupy it than on Sunday night, when perhaps the two most fearsome lineups ever assembled took the field in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic. Between them, the United States and the Dominican Republic have combined for 2,825 MLB home runs, 8,827 runs and 7,653 walks. Fourteen of the 18 got MVP votes last year, including each team’s No. 9 hitter.
“The best of the best,” said United States right fielder Aaron Judge. “Power versus power,” said Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols. “Nasty,” said U.S. manager Mark DeRosa.
“We are nine against one,” pointed out Dominican left fielder Juan Soto. “It is not easy for them.”
So naturally the final score was 2–1, U.S.
"I could have seen that game being 20 runs deep," said American center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
In a tournament that has so far been defined by its home run celebrations, the antepenultimate game featured only three. The pitching staffs combined to strike out 23, walk two and strand 14 runners. They threw 162 fastballs. Four were slower than last season’s MLB average of 93.6 mph. (Just a reminder: It’s March.) Power versus power indeed.
Even Judge got in on the action, uncorking a 95.7-mph throw to erase Fernando Tatis Jr. at third base and end the third inning. It was harder than any ball Judge threw last season. (Again: It's March.)
That Paul Skenes—the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner and Team USA’s ace—shut down the fearsome Dominican lineup over 4⅓ innings was impressive but perhaps not shocking. That he was joined in that dominance by 32-year-old Luis Severino, who started for the D.R., and by a rather workmanlike collection of relievers was remarkable.
"We've got a bunch of dogs out there that just get outs," said Skenes.
Before the game, Pujols acknowledged that Skenes might be the best pitcher on the planet right now. “But,” the manager added, “he’s not invincible.”
Skenes briefly seemed to be. He retired the first five hitters on 14 pitches and reached a 1–2 count on Dominican DH Junior Caminero before floating a sweeper to the top of the zone. Caminero swatted it 401 feet to left-center. As the ball landed, Caminero—who had told Pujols he would serve the D.R. in any capacity, including as water boy—fired his bat almost clear to the Dominican on-deck circle.
In the fourth, American third baseman Gunnar Henderson flicked a middle-middle cutter over the wall in right. He permitted himself just an elevated right index finger as he circled the bases. Severino got the next out and departed after 3⅓ five-hit innings. The sellout crowd of 36,337—of which about 36,330 appeared to be rooting for the D.R.—roared as he trotted off the field. Twenty-one-year-old left fielder Roman Anthony, who is young enough that two weeks ago he was tasked with buying a speaker for the bus, greeted reliever Gregory Soto with another longball and another muted celebration.
ROMAN ANTHONY FOR THE LEAD! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/oWLlxS5rJ4
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 16, 2026
That was just about the last mistake a reliever made. Dominican righty Juan Mejia allowed one hit; American righty David Bednar allowed two. Huascar Brazobán bailed out Mejia by inducing Henderson to ground out. Bednar escaped his own jam by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte back to back.
For a moment, it seemed as if the hardest thrower of them all, righty Mason Miller, might let things unravel in the ninth when, with one out, he walked center fielder Julio Rodríguez and uncorked a wild pitch that sent him scurrying to second. A groundout put him at third with two outs and the No. 9 hitter, Geraldo Perdomo, at the plate. Miller fired four straight 100 mph-plus four-seamers and a slider to bring the count to 3–2. Perdomo fought off two more blazing four-seamers, then watched a slider settle in the catcher’s mitt just below his knees. Home plate umpire Cory Blaser called it strike three; because the WBC does not use the automated ball-strike challenge system that will debut in the majors this season, it ended there.
A tough call to end the game pic.twitter.com/klQgw8S8Q3
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 16, 2026
The Americans celebrated like they had won a three-run interleague game in June. Maybe they could not do much more than high-five because their arms were too tired.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
- Juan Soto Boldly Claims Dominican Republic Is Best Team in World After Loss to USA
- Three Crucial Decisions That Led to Team USA's 2-1 Win Over the Dominican Republic
- Aaron Judge Had Honest Statement About WBC Crowds vs. World Series Crowds
- Awful Strike Three Call Ends Team USA-Dominican Republic WBC Clash in Controversial Fashion
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Team USA Shuts Down Loaded Dominican Lineup to Advance to WBC Final.
