D.R. ousted from WBC by USA after blown strike call
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- Geraldo Perdomo struck out looking on a full-count slider from Mason Miller that was clearly below the zone, ending the eighth inning and the Dominican Republic's 2-1 WBC semifinal loss to Team USA
- Juan Soto was called out on a similar below-the-zone slider one inning earlier and told ESPN "We showed the world who's the best team in baseball," choosing to frame the result around the tournament as a whole
- Perdomo said "I knew 100% it was a ball" after a seven-pitch at-bat in which he had taken a similar slider for a ball earlier in the count and fouled off consecutive 101 mph two-strike pitches to stay alive
- The automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system debuting in MLB this season is not being used in the WBC — implementing it would have required height measurements for players from all 20 countries plus the challenge system already used in Japan and Puerto Rico
- Dominican Republic GM Nelson Cruz told ESPN "We'll have ABS in a few years, so hopefully next time we can challenge plays like that," noting the WBC also skipped the pitch clock when MLB introduced it in 2023
- Junior Caminero broke the WBC record for home runs in a single tournament with a solo shot off Paul Skenes for a 1-0 lead, before Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony homered to power Team USA's comeback
- Team USA advances to Tuesday's WBC final against the winner of Monday's Italy-Venezuela semifinal, with the 36,337 crowd at LoanDepot Park strongly pro-Dominican
Why it matters: The decisive moment was precisely the type of judgment call MLB designed the new ABS challenge system to eliminate — a system debuting in the majors this season but unavailable on the WBC's biggest stage. For the Dominican Republic, where Cruz called the tournament "really good for baseball" and fans treat it with near-Olympic importance, losing on an unreviewable umpire's call rather than a 2-1 margin decided by play sharpens the frustration of a tournament-record home run total still ending short of the final.
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