There were two quarterfinals games this evening. One was a blowout. The other was a nail-biter.
USA 5 Canada 3
Team USA jumped out to a 5-0 lead until their bats went cold, but they hung on for a 5-3 win over Canada.
The US team got a run in the top of the first inning off Canadian starter Michael Soroka. Bobby Witt Jr. walked, Aaron Judge doubled to put runners on second and third and Kyle Schwarber drove in Witt with a grounder to first.
Team USA failed to score any more in the first inning because Alex Bregman
popped out. But Bregman came to bat again in the third inning with the bases loaded and he delivered this RBI single that scored two because of a throwing error. [VIDEO]
Meanwhile, Canada couldn’t do much against Team USA starter Logan Webb, who got some help from his defense. That includes this great catch in foul territory by Bregman. [VIDEO]
Team USA extended the lead to 5-0 in the top of the sixth on back-to-back RBI singles by Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Here’s Turang’s single [VIDEO]
But after Webb left the game, Canada began to do damage against the US bullpen. Tyler Black singled off of Brad Keller to score Owen Caissie. [VIDEO]
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa then replaced Keller with Gabe Speier, who promptly gave up this two-run home run to Bo Naylor. [VIDEO]
David Bednar relieved Speier to start the bottom of the seventh and he gave up singles to the first two batters he faced, Edouard Julien and Otto Lopez. A passed ball put runners on second and third with no outs. With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at the plate, Bednar escaped the jam by getting Josh Naylor to pop out and striking out Tyler O’Neill and Owen Caissie. [VIDEO]
Team USA didn’t have a hit after Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single, but it didn’t matter. Garrett Whitlock retired the side in order in the eighth and then Mason Miller came in to strike out the side in the ninth. [VIDEO]
Pete Crow-Armstrong was 2 for 4 with the RBI. Alex Bregman was 1 for 4 with the RBI.
Dominican Republic 10 Korea 0 (7 innings)
The powerful Dominican Republic team easily pushed aside Korea, winning 10-0 in a game that ended after seven innings because of the mercy rule.
Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez completely befuddled the Korean lineup, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out eight over five innings. Here are all eight Sánchez strikeouts [VIDEO]
Meanwhile, former Dodgers and Blue Jays pitcher Hyun Jun Ryu started for Korea and managed to retire the side in order in the first inning. But the floodgates opened in the second. Junior Caminero, who is making a bid to be the tournament MVP should the Dominicans win, doubled home Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to make it 1-0. [VIDEO]
Caminero then scored on a groundout by Julio Rodríguez to make it 2-0.
It became 3-0 on this RBI single by Fernando Tatis Jr., [VIDEO] which chased Ryu from the game.
The Dominican Republic kept pouring it on, scoring four more runs in the third. Guerrero doubled home Juan Soto, who made a fancy swim move to avoid the tag at the plate. [VIDEO]
Manny Machado then singled home Guerrero to make it 5-0. Korean reliever Been Gwak entered the game with a man on and one out. He struck out Augustín Ramírez to record the second out, but then he walked Geraldo Perdomo, Tatis and Ketel Marte in order to force in two runs and make it 7-0.
Korea was only able to manage those two hits off of Sanchéz. Albert Abreu pitched the sixth and seventh innings and only allowed one baserunner and that came on an error. Also, that runner was erased with this double play. [VIDEO]
In the bottom of the seventh, Austin Wells ended the game on a three-run home run [VIDEO] which triggered the mercy rule. So I guess it’s a walk-off home run.
These two teams will face off against each other in the semifinals on Sunday at 7pm Central time. The game will be televised on FS1.
On Saturday, Puerto Rico plays Cinderella Italy at 2pm Central on FS1. Then at 8pm Central, Venezuela and Japan face off on Fox for the final spot in the quarterfinals.
