The United States' 2-1 victory over the Dominican Republic in a pitch-perfect World Baseball Classic semifinal should be enough to quiet any critic who suggests this event has any limitations. Immense talent, passion and competition collided to elevate the sport to its highest level. Team USA had no margin for error and the result could have been flipped had any number of things broken in the Dominican Republic's favor, which again is the sign of a world-class baseball game.
All three runs in the contest came via solo home runs and the climax included a controversial (heck, a bad) strike three call that abruptly ended the Dominican Republic's ninth-inning rally. So those are probably the four biggest moments of the game. Yet there were so many others that flew a bit under the radar that helped the Americans advance to their third consecutive WBC final.
