U.S. beats Dominican Republic 2-1
to reach 3rd straight WBC title game
[March 16, 2026]
By ALANIS THAMES
MIAMI (AP) — Team USA's celebration after beating the Dominican
Republic on Sunday night in the World Baseball Classic semifinals
was electric and brief.
NL Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes roared “Let's go!” after the
final out. Closer Mason Miller let out a yell and pointed toward the
sky. Players and coaches embraced on the field.
Moments later, the smiles were gone and the message was clear:
They've got more work to do.
“Got the job done. That’s it," Miller said. “That’s all we’re here
to do is do our job.”
The loaded U.S. team — led by Skenes and featuring stars Bryce
Harper and Aaron Judge — outdueled the Dominican Republic 2-1 to
reach its third straight WBC title game. The Americans won in 2017
and fell to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. They will face the
winner the second semifinal Monday night between Italy and Venezuela
in the title game Tuesday night.
Even though the Americans were favored to get back to the final, the
run hasn't been quite as dominant as expected.
A shocking loss to Italy in pool play left the Americans needing
help to advance to the quarterfinals, where they beat Canada, but
manager Mark DeRosa still believes his lineup has another gear to
reach.
“I’m still waiting for our offense to explode," he said. "But it’s
tough to explode against a pitching staff like that”
The U.S. didn't need an offensive outburst to beat a talented
Dominican squad.
Junior Caminero gave the Dominicans a 1-0 lead in the second with
the country's tournament-record 15th home run, driving Skenes' 1-2
sweeper 401 feet to left.
Gunnar Henderson, starting at third base over Alex Bregman, answered
in the fourth with a tying solo shot off Luis Severino. Roman
Anthony followed later with the go-ahead homer against loser Gregory
Soto.
“I feel like we haven’t played our complete game yet,” Henderson
said, "but we came through and battled each and every game, and I
feel like that’s just a testament to the guys in this room.”
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Dominican Republic Geraldo Perdomo reacts after striking out at the
end of the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic semifinal game
against the United States, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP
Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The Dominicans cruised through the early rounds and
reached the semis for the first time since winning the WBC title in
2013.
They faced their biggest test of the tournament
against Skenes (2-0), who gave up one run on six hits through 4 1/3
innings, and the U.S. bullpen, which combined for 4 2/3 innings of
two-hit ball.
The Dominicans threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodríguez drew a
walk and advanced to third against Miller. The closer secured a
controversial final out against Geraldo Perdomo for his second save.
“I’m disappointed about the way the game (ended),” Dominican manager
Albert Pujols said, “but I don’t want to criticize any of that. It
just wasn’t meant to be for us.”
The matchup between the two star-studded lineups delivered plenty of
big moments.
In the third, Judge fired a 95.7 mph laser from right field that
allowed Henderson to tag out Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. After
taking one of Skenes' fastballs to the wrist, Rodríguez scaled the
center-field wall to rob Judge of a home run in the top of the
fifth. In the bottom half, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. turned an
impressive double play to get the Americans out of a jam.
“The WBC has this magnetic way of just growing the game of
baseball,” DeRosa said. “I go back to the last time when Ohtani
struck out Mike Trout, and baseball won that night. Whether we won
or didn’t win, baseball won. I think baseball won again tonight.”
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