U.S. into third straight World Baseball Classic final after beating Dominican Republic 2-1

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony homered and the United States limited the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to win a thrilling semifinal 2-1 on Sunday and earn a victory after capturing its second World Baseball Classic championship.

Loaded American roster led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenesand featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge, reached his third straight WBC title match after winning in 2017 and losing to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The Americans will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Italy and Venezuela in Tuesday’s title match.

The Dominicans reached the semifinals for the first time since winning the WBC title in 2013, but missing the championship was not the goal for a roster that includes six players who finished in the top 10 in MVP voting last year and made it through the early rounds of this WBC.

They faced their biggest test of the tournament against Skenes (2-0), who allowed one run on six hits in 4 1/3 innings, and against the American bullpen, which held the Dominicans scoreless the rest of the way.

The Dominican Republic threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodríguez drew a walk and advanced to third against Mason Miller. With two outs, Miller retired Geraldo Perdomo on a pitch that looked well below the zone for his second save.

Junior Caminero hit a solo drive against Skenes in the second half to give the Dominicans a tournament-record 15 home runs, surpassing the mark set by Mexico in 2009. He finished the tournament with a .350 average.

The confrontation between the two star teams did not fail to deliver great moments, particularly in defense.

Judge led off third with a laser of 95.7 mph from right field to put Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. The Yankees All-Star then found himself on the other side of a huge defensive play in the fifth when Rodríguez – one inning after being hit on the wrist by a 98 mph fastball from Skenes – scaled the center field wall to rob Judge of a home run.

Henderson, starting at third base against Alex Bregman, hit Luis Severino to tie the game in the fourth before Anthony hit the go-ahead homer, connecting on a 3-2 sinker from loser Gregory Soto.