The knockout stage of the 2026 World Baseball Classic kicked off Friday night, with the Dominican Republic drawing a gutsy South Korean squad, while Team USA faced off with their northern neighbors Canada. Here’s how things went down in Games 1 & 2 of the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals Game 1: Dominican Republic 10, South Korea 0 (called after 7 innings)
The final score reads like a blowout, but this game felt more like a suffocation. The D.R. jumped out to an early lead, and while they would not score in innings four through six, you could feel their grip on the game tighten with
each passing minute. Cristopher Sánchez was utterly dominant, as was Albert Abreu, who relieved him. Meanwhile, the South Korea bullpen pitched their hearts out, posting three consecutive 1-2-3 innings in a desperate bid to keep the game somewhat within reach. Alas, it was not to be. Austin Wells’ three-run homer in the seventh was the finishing blow, as the Dominican Republic put an end to South Korea’s WBC campaign.
The starters for each squad – Sánchez for the D.R., Hyun Jin Ryu for South Korea – certainly made for an intriguing matchup, with Sánchez placing second in the NL Cy Young voting last season, and Ryu receiving that same “distinction” in 2019 with the Dodgers. Each hurler held up their end of the bargain in the first frame, with each inducing two grounders and a strikeout to post clean innings. Sánchez replicated his performance in the second inning, but the same could not be said for Ryu.
After walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to open the inning, Ryu was able to retire Manny Machado on a liner to left. However, the D.R. lineup had smelled blood, and they would not be denied. Junior Caminero somehow made contact on a 70 mph curveball that looked like it was about to land on home plate, lining it down the left field line. Seeing the ball reach the wall, third base coach Carlos Febles waved Vladdy Jr. home. South Korea almost made him pay for the gamble, with left fielder Jahmai Jones and shortstop Ju Won Kim collaborating on a near-perfect relay, but Guerrero evaded catcher Dong Won Park’s tag with a perfectly aimed slide, scoring the first run of the game.
Great teams have the ability to pile on, and the Dominican Republic is no exception. Caminero, having advanced to third on the throw to home, scored on a Julio Rodríguez groundout, making the score 2-0. With no runners and two outs, it seemed like Ryu would be able to escape the frame without further damage. But the D.R. had other plans. Former Yankee Agustín Ramírez drew a walk, and Geraldo Perdomo singled to put runners on first and second, bringing up none other than Fernando Tatis Jr. to the plate. The Padres superstar did not disappoint, punching an outside fastball to right field, driving in Ramírez to make the score 3-0. Kyung-Eun Noh came in to relieve Ryu and struck out Ketel Marte, but the damage was done.
The D.R. would show off their offensive prowess again in the fourth. A Juan Soto leadoff single was followed by a screamer to center field off of the bat of Guerrero Jr. Once again, D.R. made a risky send by waving Soto home, and once again South Korea made a stellar relay. This time, it seemed like Soto would be out by a mile, but catcher Dong Won Park missed the tag. South Korea challenged the call on the field, but the review confirmed the initial call, and the score was 4-0.
From then, the train just kept on rolling. Manny Machado drove in Guerrero Jr. with a single to left for the D.R.’s fifth run, ending Noh’s night. Yeong Hyun Park came on to face Junior Caminero, who also singled to put runners at first and second. Park was able to strike out Rodríguez before being relieved by Been Gwak, who then struck out Ramírez. However, Gwak then issued three straight walks to Perdomo, Tatis, and Marte, with the latter two walks scoring the D.R.‘s sixth and seventh runs. Dane Dunning entered the game and mercifully ended the frame by getting Soto to line out to right.
On the other side of the ball, Sànchez was unassailable. The lefty had everything working for him, especially his devastating slider, which served as his primary strikeout pitch as he punched out eight in five innings. On the few occasions when there was traffic on the bases, Sànchez was able to use his sinker to generate ground balls, inducing an inning-ending grounder in the third, and erasing a lead off runner with a double play in the fourth.
Albert Abreu was handed the keys to the sixth and seventh innings, and put up quality work as well, fanning three and allowing not a single baserunner. It was a truly masterful performance from both arms, and if the D.R. can get pitching like this, I struggle to see how anyone can beat them.
After languishing in the middle innings, the D.R.’s offense came alive for a final time in the seventh. After Carlos Santana struck out to lead off the inning, Manny Machado singled, and Oneil Cruz (who pinch hit for Junior Caminero in the fourth) walked to put two runners on. Julio Rodriguez hit a ground ball to short, but South Korea couldn’t turn the double play, only getting Cruz out at second base. Enter Austin Wells, who came in as a defensive replacement at catcher in the top half of the inning. He crushed the first pitch he saw into the right field stands, and the D.R., having reached that magical 10-run difference, were declared victorious by the tournament rules.
Quarterfinals Game 2: USA 5, Canada 3
Fresh off a PR fiasco and a loss to Italy in pools that had them counting on Aaron Nola to blank Mexico to get them into the quarterfinals, all eyes were on Team USA to deliver the goods against a much improved Canada. While it wasn’t the most resounding victory, USA did enough on both sides of the ball to come away with the win in a tense game.
While Canada’s lineup was legitimately solid, their starting pitching corps left something to be desired. Case in point: toeing the slab for them in this all-important game was Michael Soroka, who is now six seasons removed from his 2019 breakout and posted a 4.23 FIP over 89.2 innings last year. Granted, the almighty US squad was just blanked by literally Michael Lorenzen in their last game, which goes to show you that you can’t predict baseball, Suzyn. But on Friday night, Soroka’s start turned out exactly how you’d expect – poorly.
Bobby Witt Jr. led off the first with a walk, followed by a Bryce Harper line drive that was snagged by Denzel Clarke. That brought up Aaron Judge, who scalded a double to left field, advancing Witt Jr. to third. To his credit, Soroka did his best to limit the damage, inducing a run-scoring grounder from Kyle Schwarber before coaxing a pop fly from Alex Bregman to limit the scoring to 1. He also worked a clean inning in the second, retiring Roman Anthony, Cal Raleigh, and Brice Trang in order. However, things would take a turn for the worse for Soroka and the Canadian side in the third.
Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the inning with a liner deflected by first baseman Josh Naylor for a single. A Witt ground out was followed by a Bryce Harper pop fly, which second baseman Edouard Julien elected to let fall in front of him to get the force out at second. With two outs, it seemed as though Soroka would be able to continue his high-wire act. However, a Judge walk and a Schwarber infield single to third loaded the bases.
Bregman then hit a grounder to the hole in short. Third baseman Abraham Toro, perhaps wanting to make up for the Schwarber infield single, dove for the ball, though in hindsight shortstop Otto Lopez was better positioned to field it. To his credit, Toro came up with the ball. However, he then proceeded to throw the ball way over Josh Naylor’s head, scoring both Witt Jr. and Judge. With the score now 3-0, Canada skipper Ernie Whitt elected to pull Soroka for Micah Ashman, who promptly retired Anthony with a strikeout.
The score would stay that way until the sixth, when Team USA struck again. An Anthony single and a Cal Raleigh walk set the table for Brice Turang, who cashed in with a single to center to make it 4-0. Pete Crow-Armstrong came up with a RBI single of his own, making it 5-0 USA. Witt grounded into a double play to end the threat, but the US now had a commanding five-run lead.
However, Team Canada would not go quietly. After having been shut out by a stellar outing from USA starter Logan Webb, the Canadian bats finally woke up against Brad Keller, who relieved Webb in the fifth. Owen Cassie walked, then advanced to second on an Abraham Toro groundout. Tyler Black drove Cassie home with a single, chasing Keller from the game. Gabe Speier came in to put out the fire, but Bo Naylor greeted him with a towering homer to right center, making the score 5-3. Suddenly, it was a ballgame again.
But the Canadians could not push any more runs across. After Speier escaped the sixth with the lead, embattled USA manager Mark DeRosa pushed the right buttons for once, summoning a truly disgusting reliever sequence of David Bednar for the seventh, Garrett Whitlock for the eighth, and Mason Miller for the ninth. The three relievers allowed just two baserunners between them across the final three frames, striking out six in the process. Canada’s relief corps also held USA scoreless, keeping them in the game, but the offense could not make a comeback happen, and the night ended in a 5-3 victory for USA.
This evening continues the WBC action, with Puerto Rico facing off against surging Italy, while a star-studded Venezuela squad draws the defending champion Samurai Japan.
