The Dominican Republic defeated the Netherlands 4-1. This is the first time a team is undefeated into the finals of the World Baseball Classic. The DR will match Puerto Rico today, Tuesday 19 March, a team it has already defeated twice in the series.
This Classic can well be deemed the Caribbean World Baseball Classic, as players from Curacao and Aruba battled for the Netherlands on Monday 18 March night when the Dominican team won the right to battle Puerto Rico. Expect Dominican fans at the ball park in San Francisco, California to be holding plantains up high.
The team from the Netherlands had eliminated the Dominican team in the 2009 Classic and the victory was a sweet avenge, especially for team player Jose Reyes who was also on that 2009 squad.
The Dominican team celebrated the victory with the closing out by relief pitcher from Fernando – the Rocket n Rodney (his record-breaking sixth save). A lot of credit goes to Edinson Volquez who allowed just one run over five innings and relievers Herrera and Strop who held the Netherlands at bay.
The Dominican team had defeated the USA 3-1 on Thursday, 14 March in a battle of baseball superpowers, which was decided in the ninth inning and assured its place in the semi-finals of the tournament in San Francisco.
The team headed by Robinson Cano (Most Valuable Player) and Jose Reyes is the only undefeated team in the championship and has the second best batting average (.306) and the third best ERA for its pitchers (2.60) and the teams with better numbers have been eliminated.
“We have not won the WBC (Classic),” warned manager Tony Pena after the victory over the United States, which was won with a hit by pinch hitter Erick Aybar in the ninth inning.
http://www.mercurynews.com/other-sports/ci_22820516/world-baseball-classic-dominican-republic-defeats-netherlands
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/kroichick/article/Dominicans-top-Dutch-reach-WBC-final-4365196.php
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/03/19/dominican-republic-world-baseball-classic-rally-plantain/1998511/
http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/2013/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130318&content_id=42953512