Day 15:
Dominican Republic 2, Puerto Rico 0
The first time these two met it was a low scoring affair and this time was no different. Puerto Rico started Orlando Roman, while Wandy Rodriguez was the Dominican Republic starter in this pitcher's duel. These pitchers battled back and forth and kept it was scoreless in Miami, until Carlos Santana belted a 401 foot home run to right field in the bottom of the fifth to break the scorless tie and give the Dominican Republic a 1-0 lead. This would be the only mistake Roman would make in his afternoon of work (5 IP, 2 hits, 1 Run, 2 walks, and 4 strike outs). Wandy Rodriguez would cap off a stellar performance by retiring the Puerto Rico side in order in the sixth to finish the day striking out four while allowing just two hits and two walks in six scoreless innings on way to picking up the win. Rodriguez made the Puerto Rican offense practically invisible during his six innings, despite getting himself into a little trouble, which was his only trouble of the game, in the top of the third.
Carlos Rivera started the inning with a lead off single and would be pinch run for by Irving Falu. Falu would steal second and advance to third on a throwing error by Carlos Santana to setup Puerto Rico for what looked like a sure scoring chance. Wandy Rodriguez would strike out the next hitter for the first out and then forced Jesus Feliciano to hit a ground ball straight to Erick Aybar (D.R. shortstop) who made a great instinctive play to throw out a running Irving Falu at home to keep it scoreless. Puerto Rico would not get another chance to score until the top of the eighth when Martin Maldonado drew a lead off walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Irving Falu. This opportunity would also be squandered when Maldonado would be thrown out at third by Erick Aybar on Andy Gonzalez's ground ball. Feliciano would extend the inning by drawing another walk, but Pedro Valdes would ground out to first to end the Puerto Rican threat. In the bottom half of the eighth, Erick Aybar and Robinson Cano had back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with two outs for pinch-hitter, Francisco Pena. Pena would come through with a big RBI single to right, scoring Aybar to give the Dominicans an improtant insurance run. Despite the lack of offense, Mike Aviles' two out-double allowed Puerto Rico to still bring the tying run to bat in the ninth, but Fernando Rodney would close the door by getting Eddie Rosario to ground out to second to end the game. 
Puerto Rico was held to a total of three hits, while the Dominican Republic only had six hits in a game where no player for either team had multiple hits. Both pitching staffs dominated this game, but it was the Dominicans who were able to make the plays on both sides of the ball when they needed to. Carlos Santana made the play on offense with his solo home run in the fifth to break the tie and Erick Aybar was outstanding on defense, turning a couple of double plays and making two key putouts (Throwing out Falu at home in the third inning and getting the lead runner at third in the eighth inning) to keep Puerto Rico from scoring. The Dominican Republic wins Pool 2 with a 3-0 record and will face the Netherlands Monday night semifinal, while Puerto Rico finishes the second round with a 2-2 record and has to play Japan in the semifinal on Sunday night.
Second Round: Pool 2 Final Standings
Pool 2
*Dominican Republic 3-0
Puerto Rico 2-2
x-USA 1-2
x-Italy 0-2
* denotes Pool winner, teams in color advance to the championship round.
The 2013 World Baseball Classic is coming down the stretch and has cut the field to its final four teams. The championship round is single elimination, so from here on out its win or go home. The semifinals will take place Sunday and Monday night, with the winners meeting in the championship game on Tuesday night. All three games in the championship round will be held in San Francisco at AT&T Park. The first semifinal is Pool 1 winner Japan verse the Pool 2 runner-up Puerto Rico on Sunday night. The second semifinal will be the Pool 2 winner Dominican Republic verse the Pool 1 runner-up Netherlands on Monday night. The championship game will feature the two semifinal winners on Tuesday night.
Look at our Final Four:
Japan: Two-time defending champs, Pool A runner-up and Pool 1 winner. Two wins verse the Netherlands. 5-1 record and look to be the favorite in San Fran. Japan looks poised to win a third consecutive title, as through their first three games they used small ball and great pitching and defense to win, but the offense has come to life by scoring 26 runs in their last two games.
Netherlands: Runner-up of Pool B and Pool 1. Beat Cuba twice and elimianted them, but also lost to Japan twice. A record of 4-3 in this year's tournament and will try to advance to the final by beating the Dominicans for the second straight Classic. This team is being overlooked by everyone, but don't count them out as the Kingdom of the Netherlands is no cinderella story.
Dominican Republic: Winner of Pool C and Pool 2. The only team to go through the first two rounds undefeated, a 6-0 record. Are becoming the popular pick to win in San Fran and will look to avenge the '09 loss to the Netherlands on Monday night. This team certainly has what it takes to win it all on paper, but will it the success continue in the bay area.
Puerto Rico: Runner-up of Pool C and Pool 2. Has posted a 4-3 record in this tournament with two losses coming to the Dominican Republic. Lost to the U.S. in the opening game of the second round, but Eliminated the U.S. two games later. Has relied on great pitching to make it to the semis.
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