MIAMI -- Four batters into Cristopher Sánchez’s World Baseball Classic debut, it looked like he might not make it out of the first inning.
By the time he walked off the mound, the left-hander had made Classic history.
Sánchez became the first pitcher in the 20-year history of the tournament to strike out four batters in an inning, but more importantly, he escaped a jam that could have put the Dominican Republic in a huge early hole before going on to a 12-3 victory in its opener against Nicaragua.
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The inning started harmlessly enough, as Nicaragua leadoff hitter Chase Dawson swung through strike three, reaching base when the wild pitch got away from catcher Austin Wells.
Benjamin Alegria and Ismael Munguia followed with a pair of singles to center field, giving Nicaragua a 1-0 lead. The Nicaraguan fans at loanDepot park exploded, showing almost as much emotion as the team’s dugout, which was filled with players jumping up and down, dreaming of pulling off a huge upset.
Mark Vientos drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out, bringing Dominican pitching coach Wellington Cepedas out of the dugout for a chat with Sànchez.
Whatever he said, it worked.
Sánchez struck out Omar Mendoza for the first out, getting the third strike when first-base umpire Lance Barksdale ruled the batter had gone around on a check swing. Emanuel Trujillo went down swinging for the second out, then Sánchez whiffed Melvin Novoa for the third out – and his fourth K – of the inning.
Last year’s National League Cy Young runner-up pumped his fist as the Dominican fans went bananas, trying to out-scream their Nicaraguan counterparts.
The Dominicans took a lead with two runs in the bottom of the first, but Sánchez struggled again in the second, allowing hits to four of the first five hitters he faced as Nicaragua took a 3-2 lead that ended Sánchez’s night.
His final line: 1 1/3 innings, six hits, three runs (two earned), one walk, four strikeouts and one spot in the Classic’s record books.