The Dominican Republic was the champion of the 2013 World Baseball Classic

The Dominican Republic, with an 8-0 undefeated record, conquered the World Baseball Classic crown for the first time by defeating Puerto Rico 3-0 in the final of the third edition of the tournament held in 2013.

 

Brilliant debut

Robinson Canó had three RBIs, José Reyes had four hits and the Dominican Republic took the match against Venezuela by beating them 9-3 on the first date of Group C in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Dominicans punished Aníbal Sánchez with three runs in one third of the inning. Edinson Vólquez dispatched the first with just 11 pitches, but the game was stopped due to rain.

Reyes after hitting a single, billed again in the second with another double by Canó. Aybar produced the other run of the episode with a sacrifice fly by Edwin Encarnación.

Venezuela responded with two in the third with a double by Pablo Sandoval that brought Marco Scutaro and Asdrúbal Cabrera to the plate, and added another in the fourth.

Hanley Ramírez increased the Dominican lead with a tremendous solo home run in the fifth. The Dominican sealed the victory with three in the seventh.

 

Triumph over Spain

Carlos Santana hit a home run, drove in two and the Dominican Republic defeated Spain 6-3 to remain undefeated in Group C and move within a step of the second round.

Nelson Cruz added two RBIs. Samuel Deduno (1-0) allowed 4 hits and fanned out 5 in 4 innings for the win. Alfredo Simón, Pedro Strop, José Veras and Rodney completed.

The Dominican Republic produced two in the second with Cruz’s RBI single and Ricardo Nanita’s RBI hit. Canó hit his third double and drove in one of three runs in the third.

 

first round winner

The Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 4-2, thus silencing the Hiram Birthon Stadium, the stadium where the first round of Group C ended to finish this phase undefeated.

The Creoles attacked with one in the first for Edwin Encarnación’s RBI single. Puerto Rico responded with a two-run home run by Mike Avilés at Lorenzo Barceló’s first pitch.

Robinson Canó, MVP of Group C, answered with the tie at the beginning of the fifth against José De La Torre. The run continued with another in the sixth (double by Alejandro de Aza) and seventh (towed by a ground ball by Nelson Cruz) for a definitive advantage.

 

It is imposed on Italy

Canó homered and the Dominicans rallied from a dismal first inning to defeat Italy 5-4 at Marlins Park in Group 2, second round, and reached one of the semifinals.

A run of three in the seventh crowned the recovery of the criollos, who got into trouble in the first episode when Edinson Vólquez lost the strike zone and allowed four runs with just one hit.

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The Italian bats were silenced by the Dominican bullpen and barely added a hit the rest of the game.

Dominican pruned the difference with long distance hits against Tiago Da Silva. Reyes discounted in the third with a solo homer and Canó added another in the sixth, his second in the tournament.

 

to semifinals

Aybar pinch-hit the ninth inning and drove in the decisive run to beat the United States 3-1 and advance to the semifinals. Reyes added a single that produced the third run. Cruz led off the ninth with a double off Craig Kimbrel and scored on Aybar’s drive.

Rodney pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the tournament, sparking a carnival in the stands and then around Marlins Park in Little Havana.

 

Second to Puerto Rico

The Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 2-0. Carlos Santana drove in the first run with a home run in the fifth off Orlando Román, and Francisco Peña drove in the second in the eighth. Roman (0-1) allowed two hits and one run in five innings. He fanned four and walked two.

Wandy Rodríguez (1-0) allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, striking out four and walking two. Rodney pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

 

Semifinal

In San Francisco, the Dominicans woke up in the fifth with a rally of four and exacted revenge by defeating the Netherlands 4-1.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, after being tied up by Diegomar Markwell, the Dominican artillery attacked mercilessly. Successive doubles by Santana and Moisés Sierra tied the score 1-1.

José Reyes drove in one with a single, Miguel Tejada added a single to place men at the corners and send left-handed Markwell to the showers. Reyes scored on a wild pitch by Tom Stuifbergen. Edwin Encarnacion’s single scored Tejada to cap the rally.

 

Final

Deduno and the relievers dominated Puerto Rico’s bats with a three-hit shutout, while Encarnación and Aybar’s RBI doubles propped up the eighth win without defeat for the troop led by Tony Peña.

From the bitterness left by the painful first-round elimination four years ago, the Dominican Republic faced this classic with absolute dedication, boundless passion and impeccable baseball in every way.

Winning the title was a mission of monumental importance for the Dominicans and they delivered. Fernando Rodney struck out Luis Figueroa, fanning the breeze, for the final out and earned his seventh save of the contest.

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