Following a thrilling and ultimately controversial World Baseball Classic semifinal that saw the United States edge the Dominican Republic 2-1, emotions were understandably running high on Sunday night in Miami.
Speaking of which, D.R. right fielder and New York Mets superstar Juan Soto seemingly didn’t let the outcome of the game affect his estimations of the two teams. “We showed the world who’s the best team in baseball,” Soto said, via ESPN, after the final out that eliminated the D.R. from the tournament. “That’s all I got to say.”
While D.R. hitters had been dominant up until Paul Skenes and the Team USA bullpen stifled them on Monday night, the reality is that the U.S. will advance to the finals, while Soto’s team is breaking up and returning to spring training. That said, frustration on the part of Soto and his teammates is understandable in light of how the game ended.
The game featured an array of tense moments, defensive highlight plays, clutch home runs, and missed opportunities. But what most will remember if the final called strike three to Geraldo Perdomo that ended the D.R.’s run and sent the U.S. to the finals to face either Venezuela or Italy.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Perdomo worked a full count against hard-throwing Padres reliever Mason Miller. At third base, Julio Rodríguez represented the tying run. Miller tried to land a ball-to-strike slider for the strikeout, but he missed low. Plate umpire Cory Blaser, however, apparently got fooled by catcher Will Smith’s framing efforts and punched out Perdomo to end the game. Here’s a look:
Had the pitch been judged correctly by Blaser, then Perdomo would’ve walked, and Fernando Tatis Jr. would’ve come up with runners on the corners and Miller’s pitch count at 22. Instead, the game was over. “He knew he was wrong,” Perdomo said afterward according to the Associated Press. “I knew it was 100% wrong.”
Perhaps adding to the frustration is that MLB this upcoming season is instituting an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system that utilizes challenges initiated by the hitter, catcher, or pitcher. The ABS challenge system, however, was not used during the WBC. Had it been and had the D.R. had a remaining challenge, Perdomo no doubt would’ve had the strike call overturned. “It looked a little down. Yes, I’m glad we had no ABS,” Team USA. outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said of the pitch, via the AP. “I’m happy that the human element was in full effect.”
As for Soto, his frustrations may have also traced back to his own strikeout to lead off the eighth inning on a pitch that was likewise below the strike zone. Whatever the reasons, Soto’s claims of the D.R. being the best in the WBC don’t entirely square with the final score of Sunday night’s classic.