The Dominican Republic quickly turned its World Baseball Classic quarterfinal into a blowout, routing South Korea 10-0 on Friday night in Miami, with the mercy rule ending the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Dominicans piled up 10 runs on nine hits, building a lead so quickly that South Korea never had a chance to settle in.
Dominican starter Cristopher Sanchez set the tone from the first pitch, scattering two hits over five scoreless innings while striking out eight. Albert Abreu finished it off with two clean frames and three more punchouts as the Dominican staff allowed just one walk and faced minimal traffic all night.
The game broke open in the second and third. Junior Caminero’s RBI double got the scoring started. Fernando Tatis Jr. added a run-scoring single, and the Dominican Republic carried a 3-0 lead into the third. The Dominicans then tacked on four more, getting an RBI double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and an RBI single from Manny Machado, to push the lead to 7-0.
The finishing blow came in the seventh, when Austin Wells launched a three-run homer to right with two outs, turning a big lead into a mercy-rule walk-off and punching the Dominican Republic’s ticket to the semifinals.
South Korea managed only a pair of hits, a double by Hyun Min Ahn and a single from Jahmai Jones.
The Dominicans will face the winner of the Canada-United States quarterfinal on Sunday in Miami.
