Dominican Republic advance to WBC semi-finals after dominant win over South Korea

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dominican-republic/tAGs4ije/"]Dominican[/a] remain perfect in this tournament so far, going 5-0 heading into the semi-finals as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/dominican-republic-tAGs4ije/south-korea-2XIeMWkr/?mid=CW0kwKqH"]their bats continue to stay red-hot[/a]. It is now the first time they have advanced to the semi-finals round since the 2013 World Baseball Classic - the same year they won the entire thing.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caminero-junior/lfKA0tS0/"]Junior Caminero[/a] led the Dominicans at the plate, going 2-for-2. Meanwhile, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanchez-cristhoper/CK4BYbns/"]Cristopher Sanchez[/a] gave up 0 runs on 2 hits through 5 innings with 8 strikeouts.[/p][embed guid="21b2b640-ac57-4de2-a89e-63d44783077c" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032622088419185100?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Recap and highlights[/h2][p]After a scoreless first inning, the Dominican broke the deadlock at the bottom of the second. After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guerrero-jr-vladimir/QJ6EIGgH/"]Vladimir Guerrero[/a] Jr walked, [b]he would be the one to get to home plate thanks to a Caminero double. That was not the only score for them, as Caminero scored shortly thereafter through a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodriguez-julio/bVFiCHiF/"]Julio Rodriguez[/a] ground out.[/b][/p][embed guid="4351a950-8237-4143-827b-b4b435201617" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032594067880653179?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]A few batters later, and it was 3-0. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tatis-fernando-jr/Ic5vhveI/"]Fernando Tatis[/a] Jr managed a single, [b]allowing for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ramirez-agustin/YquvmnJL/"]Augustin Ramirez[/a] to score[/b]. It resulted in an early pitching change for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-korea/2XIeMWkr/"]South Korea[/a], with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noh-kyung-eun/2TG8gCWt/"]Kyung-Eun Noh[/a] replacing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryu-hyun-jin/b1hunYzs/"]Hyun Jin Ryu[/a].[/p][embed guid="d778b7fc-36f5-434c-92fa-ca93bf23f989" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032595266218656253?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The onslaught continued in the third inning, where Guerrero Jr doubled on a line drive, bringing home left fielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/soto-juan/6o40D739/"]Juan Soto[/a]. Another change in pitching occurred after the latest score, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/park-yeong-hyun/QNuMLnhQ/"]Yeong Hyun Park[/a] coming in.[/p][embed guid="5dd53efb-93e4-4e20-83af-ff6e09a621a8" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032600634440962296?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]That did little to stop the Dominican bats, with Guerrero Jr scoring on the next play after Caminero singled on a ground ball. [b]It became 7-0 after consecutive walks while the bases were loaded[/b]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/machado-manny/fkNZ90Jg/"]Manny Machado[/a] and Caminero both benefitted, as they were able to walk home.[/p][embed guid="fc8b267c-d7cf-433b-9138-1ca7772d5988" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032602262535647565?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Fortunately for the Koreans, they were able to slow down their opponents for the next few innings. They even managed two hits, but could not convert them into scores.[/p][p]However, Dominican Republic made it 10-0 in the seventh [b]as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wells-austin/lEGjDIqO/"]Austin Wells[/a] hit a fly ball to right field to score three runs[/b]. That also ended the contest, with the mercy rule gonig into effect.[/p][embed guid="d025be9a-fd6c-4080-a681-61247618721f" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032621870009217205?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]