WBC Wrap-Up: D.R.-U.S. semi set after former rolls and latter edges Canada

"Dominican Republic 10, Korea 0. Well, this was a slaughter nearly from the get-go. I intended to watch it all and turned it off early because it was just kind of depressing. Hyun-Jin Ryu had a perfect first, but the murders began in the second, as a three-spot (two walks, three hits, some not-so-great defensive play from Korea) chased him from the game."

"The D.R. only used two pitchers, which will help them a lot going into the semis. Cristopher Sanchez dominated with an 8/1 K/BB ratio in five frames; Albert Abreu struck out three in two frames that were only marred by an error behind him. Korea's first three pitchers were not quite up to the challenge of the stacked Dominican lineup, with just a 3/2 K/BB ratio."

"USA 5, Canada 3. This game looked like it was going to be a blowout, but then it wasn't, and the U.S. kinda survived moreso than thrived after an early outburst. Eternal favorite Michael Soroka got the start but was overpowered by the U.S. lineup: leadoff walk, near-homer for an out, destroyed double, and RBI groundout opened the scoring."

The Dominican Republic overwhelmed Korea 10-0 in a lopsided WBC quarterfinal matchup. Korea's pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu started strong with a perfect first inning, but the Dominican offense erupted in the second inning with three runs, followed by four more in the third. The Dominican Republic's pitching was efficient, using only two pitchers with strong strikeout-to-walk ratios. Junior Caminero led offensively with a perfect night. In contrast, the USA narrowly defeated Canada 5-3 in a closer contest. After an early American offensive outburst against Canadian starter Michael Soroka, the game tightened considerably, with the USA surviving rather than dominating.

Read at Battery Power