Mighty Dominicans make quick work of Korea, set up semifinal showdown with Team USA

MIAMI -- Vlad Jr. went airborne. Juan Soto went swimming. Austin Wells went deep off the facing of the second deck. And the Dominican Republic went on to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.

The D.R. rolled past Korea, 10-0, in a seven-inning, run-rule shortened game in the opening quarterfinal matchup of the WBC on Friday night at loanDepot park. Wells delivered the game-ending three-run homer in the seventh after dazzling slides by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Soto sparked the offense to yet another monster performance at the 2026 Classic.

"I feel more Dominican every day," said Wells, who was born in Arizona but whose mother is of Dominican descent. He's enjoyed every minute of playing for this undefeated D.R. squad.

The Dominicans' freight train of a lineup stayed full steam ahead against the Koreans, setting up a showdown with Team USA, a 5-3 winner over Canada, here on Sunday.

"Team D.R. proved themselves that they are the world's best," Korea manager Ji-Hyun Ryu said.

The Dominican Republic has now scored 51 runs through five games of the Classic -- that's over 10 a game -- easily dwarfing the United States for the most by any team at the tournament. They've slugged 14 home runs, tied for the most in a single World Baseball Classic with Mexico in 2009.

Wells' home run was the fifth to clinch a run-rule victory in WBC history -- and the Dominicans' second of this tournament. Soto also hit one against the Netherlands in pool play.

Unlike his teammates who delivered four incredible home run celebrations in the D.R.'s pool play finale against Venezuela -- Soto, Ketel Marte, Guerrero. and Fernando Tatis Jr. -- Wells went sans bat flip on his game-ending home run.

But the other Dominican stars are rubbing off on him. Who knows how much longer he'll be able to stay all-business on his homers.

"I'm still getting warmed up, I think," Wells said with a laugh. "I haven't been one for big bat flips in my career. I'm taking notes. A lot of the time I just black out when I hit a home run, so it's been hard for me to try to come back to it and show some sort of emotion. But I'm taking notes. Maybe next time."

Not to worry, though. Even before Wells' blast off Hyeong Jun So sent the Dominican fans partying out into the concourse and onto the streets outside loanDepot park, the team had already electrified the crowd with acrobatic slides instead of bat flips.

Vlad Jr. set the tone with a Superman dive into home plate to avoid a tag from Korean catcher Dong Won Park on Junior Caminero's double in the second inning. That play helped open the floodgates against Korea starter and 10-year MLB veteran Hyun Jin Ryu, who was chased after just 1 2/3 innings.

It's not the first time Vladdy's done that, either.

"Vladdy, he just kind of jumped in the pool," joked Caminero.

Then it was Soto's turn. On Guerrero's double in the third inning, he pulled a swim move deke at the plate to get around another tag attempt from Park. The Dominican Republic scored four times in that inning to open up a 7-0 lead.

"This team is able to score runs in different ways," manager Albert Pujols said. "The homer was hit at the end, but you already had seven runs. Speaking about Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Soto: Maybe they are not the fastest runners, but they were so aggressive on the bases. When you have this kind of team, that can damage you not only with the bat, but the way they play so aggressively -- they know about the importance of this tournament for themselves, for the country, for our homeland."

Korea, which had advanced past the first round of the World Baseball Classic for the first time since the team was the runner-up in 2009, was overwhelmed by the Dominican superstar hitters and ace Cristopher Sánchez, who was on top of his game.

Sánchez, the 2025 National League Cy Young runner-up with the Phillies, pitched five shutout innings, allowed only two hits and struck out eight.

The All-Star lefty bounced back from his first WBC outing, when he lasted just 1 1/3 innings against Nicaragua and allowed three runs on six hits. Friday's start was a satisfying way to end his World Baseball Classic run: a dominant outing in front of another raucous crowd of 30,805 fans in Miami.

Sánchez will return to the Phillies and Spring Training soon. But not yet. He won't pitch anymore in the 2026 Classic, but he's going to stay with the Dominican team for now as the 2013 WBC champions chase a second title.

"Hearing those Dominican fans, the noisy Dominican fans, this is great," Sánchez said. "I have been in the playoffs, and so on, and this is unprecedented here.

"I am not leaving, by the way. I am staying here."