Day 13:
Dominican Republic 3, USA 1
This was a game between two tournament favorites that lived up to expectations. The United States started R.A. Dickey and he would face the Dominicans' starter, Samuel Deduno. The level of Major League experience between these two is very different, Dickey is the reigning Cy Young winner and Deduno has slightly a little more Major League experience than you and I, but you couldn't tell the difference in this matchup as both pitchers pitched fantastic. The Americans got off to a good start when R.A. Dickey retired the top of the Dominican lineup in order in the top of the first, and the inning would get better when they came up to bat. With Brandon Phillips on first, Joe Mauer would single to left and Giancarlo Stanton would follow with an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Eric Hosmer would come to the plate and draw a bases loaded walk, bringing Phillips into score the game's first run. Deduno would strike out Adam Jones to limit the damage and regain his composure, which he would have the rest of the night.
Other than a minor first inning jam Samuel Deduno would keep the American bats off balance; allowing just five hits, two walks, and one run in four innings with seven strike outs. Hanley Ramirez would tie the game in the top of the second with a solo home run that went 451 feet. That would be it for the scoring, as the Dickey vs. Deduno pitching duel would carry through the rest of the second inning and the third and fourth innings, Dickey would pitch a 1-2-3 top of the fifth before exiting. Kelvin Herrera would take the mound for the Dominican Republic in the bottom of the fifth and would take the pitcher's duel to become a battle of the bullpens. Luke Gregerson would enter in the sixth for the U.S. and would do his share in this pitching battle by striking out two of the four hitters he would face in his lone inning of work, Herrera also pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Through six innings we were tied at one when the Dominicans looked poised to break the tie verse American left-hander, Tim Collins. Carlos Santana would lead off the seventh with a single to center and would advance to second on a sacrifice. Collins responded by getting Alejandro De Aza to pop out to third and intentionally walking Jose Reyes to put runners on first and second with two out. Steve Cishek would be brought in to face Miguel Tejada and forced an inning-ending groundout to keep the score tied at one. Octavio Dotel would retire the U.S. in order in the bottom of the seventh and we would see the same from Steve Cishek in the top of the eighth. The U.S. would have one of their better scoring chances in the bottom of the eighth when Joe Mauer singled with one out, but where unable to score the go-ahead run. The U.S. called on their closer, Craig Kimbrel for the top of the ninth. Things turned sour for the Americans right away when Nelson Cruz crushed a double to deep right-center on the first pitch out of Kimbrel's hand. Cruz advanced to third on Carlos Santana's ground out and then Erick Aybar came in to pinch-hit. Erick Aybar would give the Dominicans their first lead, lining a single to right to score Cruz from third. Aybar would steal second and come around to score on Jose Reyes' RBI single with two outs, giving the Dominican Republic the lead for good. Fernando Rodney entered in the bottom of the ninth and got Adam Jones to fly out to left, Ben Zobrist to stike out, and Shane Victorino to pop out to third to end the game.
Rodney earned his fourth save of the tournament, while also keeping the Dominican Republic the lone undefeated team left in this year's Classic. As you could tell, this matchup was dominated by pitching despite the early scoring. The Dominican bullpen allowed just one hit and no runs in their five innings of work, while the U.S. bullpen allowed just one hit, one walk, and no runs through the sixth to eighth innings. Nelson Cruz and Carlos Santana each had two hits for the Dominican Republic; and Erick Aybar earns the player of the game award with his game-winning RBI single to break the 1-1 tie in the ninth. David Wright's absence was felt, as Joe Mauer was the lone American to have two hits. The Dominican Republic moves to 2-0 in Pool 2, 5-0 for the tournament, and clinches a spot in the semifinals. The United States falls to 1-1 and now has to play Puerto Rico in an elimination game on Friday night. The Dominican Republic will face the USA/Puerto Rico winner on Saturday in the Pool 2 final.
*David Wright has been removed from the USA World Baseball Classic roster with a "moderate" rib strain.
With "Captain America" now being out for the rest of the tournament, the U.S. championship hopes could be seriously trashed. Against the Dominican Republic the U.S. offense clearly missed Wright, scattering six hits on the night and only managing to get two hits after the second inning. David Wright led Team USA and the entire WBC with 10 RBI. The U.S. takes on Puerto Rico in an elimination game on Friday night with the final spot in the semifinals at stake.
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