Team USA is moving on to the 2026 World Baseball Classic title game after a tense 2-1 win on Sunday night



The United States is heading to the World Baseball Classic Championship Game. Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami, Team USA outlasted the Dominican Republic, 2-1, in one of the most highly anticipated baseball games in years (box score). Paul Skenes and five relievers held the high-powered Dominican lineup to one solo homer while Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony went deep to give the Americans the only runs they'd need.

Team USA awaits the winner of Monday's Italy vs. Venezuela semifinal. Italy beat Puerto Rico and Venezuela upset Japan to reach the semifinals. The Championship Game is Tuesday, also in Miami. The Dominican Republic, meanwhile, will disperse, and the many stars of their lineup will rejoin their MLB teams for spring training.

Here now are five crucial plays that decided Sunday's thriller in chronological order.

3rd inning: Severino fans Judge and Schwarber
You think Dominican Republic starter Luis Severino was amped up? He hit 99 mph six times in Sunday's game, one more time than he did all of last season. Despite that velocity, USA put some pressure on Severino the third inning. Bobby Witt Jr. singled and Bryce Harper doubled, setting USA up with runners on second and third with one out.

How did Severino respond? By striking out Aaron Judge, his former Yankees teammate, and Kyle Schwarber. Those two combined for 109 home runs last season.

It was early, but that was a huge moment. The Dominican Republic was nursing a 1-0 lead at the time thanks to Junior Caminero's solo home run and Team USA had a chance not only to tie the game, but to take the lead, and really bust things open. They were positioned for a big inning and could have really taken control of the game. Instead, Severino escaped.

3rd inning: Judge throws out Tatis
A half-inning after Severino escaped, the Dominican Republic had a chance to increase its lead. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a fielder's choice with two outs when Geraldo Perdomo was forced out at second. Ketel Marte followed with a solid single to right and, as he often does, Tatis made a big turn and headed for third base.

At 95.7 mph, that was Judge's hardest throw in three years. Remember, Judge missed time with a flexor issue late last season, and his throwing was compromised in the postseason. Opponents ran on him at will. He sure looks healthy now. Judge snuffed out the rally and saved Skenes some pitches, allowing the American ace to get a little deeper into the game.

4th inning: Henderson and Anthony go deep
This game had a very postseason-like vibe, and in the postseason, it's really hard to string together hits and walks to build a rally. You need to be able to hit the ball out of the park to win in October -- and apparently in March, too. Caminero took Skenes deep to give the Dominican Republic a 1-0 lead in the second. USA responded in the fourth.

First, Gunnar Henderson took Severino yard to end his evening and tie the game 1-1. Henderson was in the lineup over Alex Bregman because he is 7 for 9 with a double and a homer in his career against Severino. The move paid off exactly as planned for Mark DeRosa.

Two batters later, the ultra-impressive Roman Anthony clobbered a left-on-left homer to center field to give USA a 2-1 lead. This is not a good spot for a 3-2 fastball, Gregory Soto.

USA was 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position Sunday. The three is the important number there, not the zero. American hitters had very few run-scoring chances. To win the game, they were going to have to hit the ball out of the park. Henderson and Anthony did exactly that, and it was enough to get USA to the WBC Championship Game.

7th inning: Bednar makes a mess, cleans it up
The Dominican Republic certainly had chances to tie the game. Tyler Rogers got Juan Soto to bang into an inning-ending 6-3 double play to end the fifth, then, in the seventh, the Dominican Republic put runners on second and third with one out against David Bednar. Apparently, Bednar can only lock it in when he's facing a major jam.

Much like he did Friday against Canada, Bednar stranded the runners at second and third with a pair of strikeouts. He got Tatis and Marte swinging to preserve the 2-1 lead. This is some gutsy pitching:

Bednar has been USA's workhorse, appearing in four of their six games and throwing some of their most important innings. He's had traffic in those four games (eight hits and a hit batter), but he's also struck out eight and not allowed a run. Sunday's escape job against Tatis and Marte was Bednar's best yet this WBC.

9th inning: The final 'strike'
It is a damn shame that after such a terrific game, a lot of conversation will be focused on the final call. The Dominican Republic put the tying run at third base in the ninth inning -- this one came down right to the final pitch -- but Mason Miller struck out Perdomo for the 27th and final out. The pitch certainly looked low, and Statcast confirmed that yes, it was below the zone.

Here is the game-ending pitch. A rough call, this was.

The ABS challenge system is not in use at the WBC because the system was not available at every venue during pool play. Maybe it should be used in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and Championship Game since those games are being played in MLB parks, but it's not. Perdomo couldn't tap his head and ask for a challenge. The call stood, and the game was over.

Of course, it's possible the Dominican Republic would have exhausted its challenges before the ninth inning (there were several borderline calls that went both ways throughout the game) and Perdomo wouldn't have been able to challenge anyway. We'll never know. Perdomo got rung up on a pitch below the zone and had no recourse. It's too bad it had to end that way.

"I don't want to focus on the last pitch. I'm not going to criticize any of that," Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols said after the game. "It wasn't meant to be."

Source