Dominican Republic Stuns MLB Twitter After Elimination from 2023 WBC in Pool Play
The Dominican Republic was supposed to be one of the best teams at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but they won't get the chance to battle for a title after being eliminated in pool play on Wednesday.
Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic 5-2 on Wednesday at loanDepot Park in Miami to improve to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Dominicans also fell to Venezuela, the Pool D winner, 5-1 on March 11. They beat Nicaragua 6-1 on Monday and Israel 10-0 on Tuesday before dropping Wednesday's game.
The Puerto Ricans were dominant from start to finish on Wednesday as Francisco Lindor (New York Mets), Enrique Hernández (Boston Red Sox), MJ Melendez (Kansas City Royals) and Christian Vázquez (Minnesota Twins) all drove in runs.
The highlight of the evening was Lindor's Little League home run that center fielder Julio Rodríguez misplayed in the top of the fifth inning to give Puerto Rico a 5-1 lead.
With the likes of Manny Machado (San Diego Padres), Wander Franco (Tampa Bay Rays), Sandy Alcantara (Miami Marlins), Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox), Jeremy Peña (Houston Astros), Juan Soto (Padres) and Rodríguez (Seattle Mariners) on their roster, the Dominican Republic was expected to dominate this year's World Baseball Classic.
Instead, the Dominicans will head home wondering what could have been, and baseball Twitter was left stunned by the team's early exit:
Players from the Dominican Republic will now go back to Major League Baseball spring training with their respective clubs. It was a disappointing exit for such a great lineup, but many of these players will get another shot at winning a World Baseball Classic in another four years.
Puerto Rico, meanwhile, will play Mexico on Saturday in the quarterfinal round, with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
