U.S. beats Dominican Republic 2-1 to reach third straight WBC title game

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony homered and the United States limited the Dominican Republic's electric offence to win a thrilling semifinal 2-1 in Miami on Sunday and move one win from capturing its second World Baseball Classic championship.

The loaded American roster led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge, reached its third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The Americans will face the winner of Monday's semifinal between Italy and Venezuela in Tuesday's title game.

The Dominicans reached the semis for the first time since winning the WBC title in 2013, but missing the championship was not the goal for a roster that featured six players who finished among the top 10 in MVP voting last year and cruised through the early rounds of this WBC.

They faced their biggest test of the tournament against Skenes (2-0), who gave up one run on six hits through 4 1/3 innings, and the U.S. bullpen, which held the Dominicans scoreless the rest of the way.

The Dominican Republic threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodriguez drew a walk and advanced to third against Mason Miller. With two outs, Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo for his second save.

Junior Caminero hit a solo drive off Skenes in the second to give the Dominicans a record 15 homers in the tournament, surpassing the mark set by Mexico in 2009. He finished the tournament hitting .350.

The matchup between the two star-studded lineups didn't fail to deliver big moments, especially on defence.

Judge got it started in the third with a 95.7 m.p.h. laser from right field to get Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. The Yankees All-Star then found himself on the other side of