USA narrowly defeats Dominican Republic, advances to World Baseball Classic finals for third consecutive time.

This game lived up to expectations, and the USA team also handled the pressure in critical moments.

In a semifinal filled with numerous baseball stars and intense tension, the USA team today at Miami's LoanDepot Park defeated the Dominican Republic team 2-1, securing their third consecutive entry into the World Baseball Classic finals.

The USA team, holding a mindset of "no gold means failure," will face the winner between Italy and Venezuela in the final two days later.

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony's solo home runs established a lead for USA ace Paul Skenes, while the team's excellent defense and resilient bullpen preserved the victory. The roar from a sold-out crowd of 36,337 amplified the intensity of every tense moment, and such moments were plentiful.

The Dominican Republic team scored first in the second inning, with Junior Caminero continuing his hot streak in this tournament by hitting his third home run—driving a high slider from Skenes to left-center field, igniting the visiting team's dugout and the entire stadium. This was also the record-setting 15th home run for the powerful Dominican lineup in this tournament. In the next inning, Luis Severino maintained the 1-0 lead, striking out USA captain Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber consecutively; after leaving two runners in scoring position, he pumped his arms and roared.

Interestingly, when two lineups filled with MVP candidates collide, momentum can shift rapidly.

In the fourth inning, Gunnar Henderson hit a 400-foot home run off Severino, tilting momentum toward the USA team. After one out, facing reliever Gregory Soto, Roman Anthony continued his impressive performance in this Classic with a solo shot to center field, helping the USA team take a 2-1 lead.

The score remained at 2-1 thanks to Skenes escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, even though it consumed many of his pitches, which was particularly crucial on a night where every out was precious.

Regarding outs, the most spectacular moment was in the top of the fifth inning when Julio Rodríguez leaped high near the wall to rob Aaron Judge of a sure home run. Judge himself also had a brilliant defensive play: in the third inning, he threw a long, precise throw from right field to cut down Fernando Tatis Jr. attempting to reach third base, and in the fourth inning, he dove to catch a hit from his former Yankees teammate Soto. However, Rodríguez's "home run robbery" was undoubtedly the top defensive play of the night, keeping the Dominican Republic team's hope of tying the score alive.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Skenes nearly lost the 2-1 lead. Tatis and Ketel Marte hit consecutive singles, and Skenes' pitch count reached 71. Seeing Skenes nearing his preset limit, manager Mark DeRosa decided to make a change, bringing in the extreme low-arm-side right-handed pitcher Tyler Rogers to face the left-handed Soto.

This substitution worked. Rogers used just two pitches to induce Soto into hitting a high bouncing ball toward the middle. Bobby Witt Jr. fielded the ball to the right of the second base bag, quickly tagged the base and threw to first, completing a crucial double play to end the inning.

In the seventh inning, David Bednar faced a similar crisis. Austin Wells' double and Geraldo Perdomo's single plus stolen base placed the Dominican Republic team on second and third with no outs. Bednar calmly used a splitter to strike out Tatis swinging and then solved Marte with a cutter, once again allowing the USA team to return safely to the dugout with a narrow lead.

Garrett Whitlock retired the Dominican Republic team's core lineup in order in the eighth inning, sending the game into the ninth. USA closer Mason Miller left the tying run stranded at third base, concluding this dramatic classic showdown, and the USA team successfully advanced to the finals.