Yesterday, a game that will go down in history took place. In the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic, Paul Skenes's United States team faced off against Luis Severino's Dominican Republic. And it turned out to be a good game. Less offensive than expected, but a good game. Skenes pitched for only 4.1 innings because the Dominicans, toward the end of his outing, found a way to drive up his strikeout count a bit. But despite everything, he left the game with a 2-1 lead.
Junior Caminero hit a long ball off him. Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony did the same in the fourth for the Americans, allowing the Pirates pitcher to finish with the win.
Because yes, two to one was the final score. The pitchers from both teams gave up nothing but three solo home runs to three young Major League stars. Here and there, there were breakthroughs. But no runner crossed home plate after the end of the fourth inning. That doesn't mean it wasn't quite the game, mind you. Big strikeouts were recorded at key moments… thanks in part to Umpire's strike zone. Behind the plate, let's be honest: the umpire wasn't wearing his glasses. Juan Soto, in particular, was called out in the eighth—and he wasn't exactly happy about it, let's be honest.
Ouch. But since he's not allowed to hit himself in the head (ABS system) in the World Baseball Classic, there was nothing he could do about it. Several calls in the game were questionable, on both sides… but the Dominicans got the short end of the stick. That said, the worst of the worst is really the fact that Geraldo Perdomo, with three pitches, two strikes, two outs, a runner on third, and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the on-deck circle, saw his walk turn into a strikeout that ended his team's tournament. In what world is that a strike?
The Americans weren't asking for much; they'll play in the final tomorrow against the winner of the match between Italy and Venezuela. But what about the members of the Dominican Republic team?
They want answers. A lot of the guys were crying after the game because it doesn't make sense to see the game end like that.
It's a shame what happened. The Dominicans deserved a chance to fight back and send Fernando Tatis Jr. to face his San Diego teammate, the excellent Mason Miller.
The Dominican offense didn't get the job done last night. But the fact remains that the umpire stole the show for all the wrong reasons last night.
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pic.twitter.com/Ol6Q8OLkSX— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 16, 2026
