The star-studded squads of the USA and the Dominican Republic faced off in the World Baseball Classic semifinals for a game that came down to a dramatic ninth inning, only to end on a horrible strike three call on a full count with the tying run on third base.<\/p>\n
The Americans will certainly take it, coming away with a 2-1 win to advance to the WBC Final. But it was an extremely unfortunate way for the Dominican Republic to go out, and a lame way for an incredible matchup to come to an end.<\/p>\n
If the pitch had been called correctly by home plate umpire Corey Blaser, the Dominican Republic would have had first-and-third with two outs and San Diego Padres star Fernando Tat\u00eds Jr. coming to the plate. Instead, the team\u2019s tournament is over, and its championship hopes are crushed, on a call that was out of its hands.<\/p>\n
The Dominican Republic could have really used the ABS.<\/p>\n
The USA hangs on and advances to the WBC Final!\u26be\ufe0f\ud83d\udc6e\u200d\u2642\ufe0f #WBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hSpOdjS7Ec<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Fox Sports announcers Joe Davis and John Smoltz had the television call for FS1, and they didn\u2019t take long after the pitch to point out that Arizona Diamondbacks star Geraldo Perdomo and the Dominicans would have been aided by the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System. While the ABS is making its Major League Baseball debut this season, the system wasn\u2019t implemented for the WBC.<\/p>\n John Smoltz: \u201cThat slider right there that was below the zone. And\u2026 one team reacting. The other just stunned.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe Davis: \u201cThinking, \u2018You sure we don\u2019t have ABS yet? You sure we can\u2019t challenge that?’\u201d\u26be\ufe0f\ud83d\udc6e\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f #WBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kICqdoPKb6<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/HlwMvEqlQO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat slider right there that was below the zone,\u201d Smoltz, the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner, said. \u201cAnd\u2026 one team reacting. The other just stunned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThinking, \u2018You sure we don\u2019t have ABS yet?’\u201d Davis responded. \u00a0\u201c\u2018You sure we can\u2019t challenge that?\u2019, Perdomo and the Dominican Republic are wondering. And they\u2019ll have to wonder what would have happened with Fernando Tat\u00eds Jr. standing on deck.\u201d<\/p>\n The MLB on Fox studio analyst crew of Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter shared their thoughts on the game-ending call during the postgame show.<\/p>\n Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter react to the game-ending strike call.<\/p>\n Jeter: \u201cWell, you can pretty much guarantee they\u2019re going to have the (ABS) challenge system in place for the next WBC, right?\u201d \u26be\ufe0f\ud83d\udc6e\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83e\udd16\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f #WBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Gf31BvsYwe<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/HlwMvEqlQO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a tough way to end a really good game,\u201d host Kevin Burkhardt told the former MLB stars.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, and it is,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cA ball that\u2019s about four inches down. Too close to take. But this is Cory Blaser\u2019s hot zone. And it\u2019s down. And sure enough, it lived (up) to his scouting report. But you just hate, Papi (Ortiz), to end a game this big, with these type of consequences, on a pitch that\u2019s not a strike.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to tell you- if you\u2019re calling a 101, 102 mph on top of the zone a strike, you cannot go down there and call that pitch a strike also,\u201d Ortiz, a Dominican baseball legend<\/a>, said. \u201cYou\u2019re expanding the strike zone against this batter and facing a really good pitcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you can pretty much guarantee they\u2019re going to have the challenge system in place for the next WBC, right?\u201d Jeter said. \u201cYou hate to end a game that way. But, you give credit to the U.S. They not only pitched well; they hit the two home runs, they played great defense\u2026 The U.S. deserves to go to the finals.\u201d<\/p>\n Mason Miller is the most difficult pitcher to hit on the planet, especially when he gets the strike zone that Blaser gave him on the 3-2 pitch. And in fairness to Blaser, while it was a brutal call, it\u2019s an incredibly difficult challenge for the human eye to properly detect filthy 89 mph sliders (and when also geared up for the possibility of Miller throwing 103 mph fastballs). That\u2019s why the ABS is so helpful and can do a better job of preventing games from being decided for reasons that aren\u2019t the players\u2019 or managers\u2019 fault.<\/p>\n As Jeter said, the ABS will surely be added for the next WBC, but that won\u2019t make the Dominicans feel any better about the way this ended.<\/p>\n Team USA will face the winner of the Venezuela-Italy semifinal on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. The Americans will have the chance to secure their second WBC title.<\/p>\n \t