The Philadelphia Phillies continued to make their mark on the World Baseball Classic as Cristopher Sánchez delivered a dominant outing for the Dominican Republic in Miami. Meanwhile, in Houston, several of his teammates helped power the United States past Team Canada. By the end of the night, both teams had punched their tickets to the semifinals, filling the first half of the next round of the WBC bracket.
In Miami, Cristopher Sánchez found himself dueling a Korean known as the Monster. Hyun Jin Ryu recently returned to his native Korea, signing an eight-year contract with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO. Most recently, spending four years with the Toronto Blue Jays,
Hyun Jin Ryu made the start for his native Korea against Sánchez and the Dominican Republic. The 36-year-old has been a mainstay starting pitcher in Major League Baseball since 2013, but signed a contract last month with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO. His last few years have found him in Canada, pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays. In the second inning on Friday, Ryu’s teammate-turned-adversary, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., was the one to open the gates in the second inning. Guerrero’s walk began what would be a three-run inning for the strong Dominican lineup. Ryu would not last the inning, going 1.2 innings and allowing five baserunners before Korea went to the bullpen.
Sánchez, meanwhile, tallied three strikeouts before allowing his first baserunner, a walk to Dong Won Park, with one out in the third. Striking out the next batter, Sánchez shut down the inning before Park could advance further.
From there, both the Dominican offense and Sánchez found their groove. The Dominicans scored four additional runs in the third inning while Sánchez mowed down batter after batter against the Koreans, allowing only two base hits. Sanchez managed his pitch count well, only tallying 63 through five innings of work. After striking out the side in the fifth, manager Albert Pujols went to the bullpen for the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Austin Wells hit a three-run home run into right field, triggering a 10-run mercy rule and giving the Dominican Republic the 10-0 victory. Going five innings, Sánchez received the win, moving the Dominican to the semi-finals.
Kyle Schwarber is known for one thing: jackin’ taters. While he did his part in the first inning for Team USA, he probably will want his at-bat back. Going up against Canadian pitcher Mike Soroka with runners on the corners, Schwarber jacked a first-pitch slurve an entire 19 feet to score Bobby Witt Jr. from third. The groundout goes down with an RBI, but the slugger known for being a patient batter likely wishes he were more patient in hindsight.
Harper and Schwarber were both involved in the action in their second time through the order in the top of the third. With one runner on first, Harper hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, replacing Witt on the base path.
Following a walk to Aaron Judge, Schwarber shifted both runners into scoring position with an infield single to third, loading the bases. Harper and Judge then scored on an infield single from Alex Bregman. Judge, who was on second at the time, scored on a throwing error as the diving third baseman Abraham Toro sent his first base-bound throw soaring into the dugout.
A familiar face in Philadelphia lore took the mound for Canada to start the sixth inning. In 2009, the Phillies acquired pitcher Phillippe Aumont in the trade that sent Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners. Now a farmer, Aumont breaks out the glove every three years to pitch for his country. The 2026 World Baseball Classic is Aumont’s fourth for Canada. Aumont faced three batters, allowing two baserunners and barely avoiding a two-run monster of a home run to Cal Raleigh. The two runners would eventually score, giving the United States a 5-0 advantage.
Starting pitcher Logan Webb went 4.2 innings, shutting out Team Canada while allowing four hits. With one man on and two outs, manager Mark DeRosa opted to go to the bullpen, calling upon new Phillies reliever Brad Keller. Keller made quick work of Josh Naylor, getting him to ground out to Harper on his second pitch to end the inning. Re-entering in the bottom of the sixth, Keller found himself in a trouble spot. Allowing a one-out walk to Owen Caissie, Keller allowed Caissie to cross the plate on a single from Tyler Black two batters later. As Keller took a seat, being replaced by Gabe Speier, Bo Naylor hit a two-run homer to right-center field, making it a 5-3 ball game.
Team USA held Team Canada there, punching their ticket to the semifinals with a 5-3 win. This simply is not Canada’s year against America.
While the pair’s proclivity for powerful performances was not presented, Schwarber and Harper still contributed to Team USA’s victory. Harper scored a run despite going 0-for-5, while Schwarber notched an RBI and went 1-for-4. Keller, meanwhile, allowed two earned runs over an inning’s worth of work in an up-and-down relief appearance.
Team USA and Team Dominican Republic will now face off Sunday night at 8 P.M. in Miami for the right to move on to the championship. Having just pitched on Friday, Sánchez will have to watch from the dugout as his Phillies teammates duke it out against his Dominican teammates.
In the meantime, Aaron Nola and Team Italy will have to face Team Puerto Rico, while Jesús Luzardo and Team Venezuela will attempt to advance past Team Japan in the second half of the quarterfinals on Saturday.
