The United States advanced to the World Baseball Classic final with a contentious 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic on Sunday, sparked by home runs from Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony. The semi-final at loanDepot park was decided when Dominican hitter Geraldo Perdomo was called out on a pitch clearly below the strike zone with two outs in the ninth inning, prompting outrage from the Dominican side.
"[The umpire] knew he was wrong," Perdomo said. "I knew it was 100% wrong." Despite the controversy, he acknowledged, "We didn't lose the game there." The Automated Ball-Strike Challenge system is not used in the WBC, so the call stood. US outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong welcomed the result, saying, "I'm happy that the human element was in full effect."
Earlier, the Dominican Republic took a 1-0 lead on a solo homer by Junior Caminero in the second inning, extending their tournament record to 15 home runs. The US tied the game in the fourth when Henderson homered off Luis Severino, and Anthony hit the go-ahead blast in the fifth against Gregory Soto. US pitching, led by starter Paul Skenes, limited the dangerous Dominican lineup to just one run.
The Americans, holders of the 2017 title, will face the winner of Monday's semi-final between Italy and Venezuela in Tuesday's championship game. Manager Mark DeRosa expressed confidence despite a rocky path through the tournament, including a pool play loss to Italy. "I'm still waiting for our offense to explode," he admitted, "but it's tough to explode against a pitching staff like that."
