Henderson, Anthony, Beating Dominican Republic in WBC Semis
United States had best game of WBC, thanks to Henderson, Anthony, beating Dominican Republic in Semis. For the United States to beat the Dominican Republic in the semifinals of the WBC, they needed to be absolutely perfect. Thankfully, they did just that. The United States gave up a home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning to make it 1-0 Dominican Republic, so the United States had to bear down to get back in the game. Examples of this occurred in the bottom of the 3rd inning as Aaron Judge had to throw out Fernando Tatis Jr of the Dominican Republic, who is a fast runner, at third base to end the inning. In the top of the 4th inning, US manager, Mark DeRosa’s move to put Gunnar Henderson in the lineup thanks to his recent success against the Dominican Republic’s pitcher Luis Serverino paid off as Henderson hit a homerun to make it 1-1.
Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox and US continued to have success in the WBC as he would hit the game clinching home run which went 421 feet in the top of the 4th inning to make it 2-1 United States. The United States would have to rely on pitching and defense for the rest of the game against the vaunted Dominican Republic squad. Judge continued to have an excellent game defensively as he caught a ball while diving in the bottom of the 4th inning. Judge thought he had a home run in the 5th inning, but he was robbed by the Dominican Republic.
Double plays and diving stops helped propel the United States in locking down the formidable Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic threaten to score in the bottom of the 7th inning, with men on third and second with 1 out, but David Bednar struck out the next two batters to end the chances of the Dominican Republic scoring. Garrett Whitlock of the Red Sox and US had a clean 8th inning to force the game to be decided in the 9th inning. The 9th inning of this WBC was subject to controversy as the Dominican Republic had the tying run on 3rd base with 2 outs. On a pitch that was clearly a ball, Geraldo Perdomo of the Dominican Republic was called out by the umpire, end game, and seal the victory for the United States. If the WBC had a challenge system like the one Major League Baseball (MLB) is using this year, the call of strike would have been overturned, the Perdomo would have taken a walk to first base, and the game would have continued. Regardless, the United States had its best game of all the WBC and is moving onto the championship on Tuesday. Hopefully, the United States can match that passion they showed in the semifinals in the championship.
Ketchup, anyone?