The United States advanced to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic with a 5-3 win over Canada at Daikin Park in Houston on Friday night.
Will Smith, who has been splitting catching duties with Cal Raleigh, did not play on Friday. Clayton Kershaw did not pitch in any of the first five games of the tournament, and he’s expected to be replaced on Team USA’s roster in favor of Twins starter Joe Ryan for the next round.
The earlier game Friday was a blowout, with the Dominican Republic shutting out Korea 10-0.
Former Dodgers pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu got through the first inning unscathed, but it was mostly landmines for him in the second inning, with two walks, three hits, and three runs to end his start after only five outs. The Dominican Republic followed with a four-run third inning, then Austin Wells ended things with a three-run home run in the seventh inning, providing the requisite 10-run lead that late in the game to invoke the mercy rule.
Hyeseong Kim, who missed the last game of pool play in Tokyo after injuring his left hand on a slide into second base, was back in the lineup Friday for Korea, but he struck out in both at-bats. Now, he’ll be back to the Dodgers soon to resume his battle for an opening day roster spot.
Team USA will take on the Dominican Republic in the first WBC semifinal, on Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the mound and Shohei Ohtani in the lineup as designated hitter for Japan in their quarterfinal matchup with Venezuela on Saturday night. Ohtani won’t pitch in the WBC, but he continues to build up toward the regular season, including pitching four simulated innings on Thursday in Miami.
Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior talked with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register about Ohtani’s pitching progression:
“We get Trackman reports. We know how many pitches he’s thrown, we know the velocity, we have a general idea of the movements. We get some cellphone videos and stuff from Will Ireton (who is working with Team Japan during the tournament) and Possum (Yosuke Nakajima, a Dodgers trainer), who was in Tokyo as well.
“We’ve been able to track what’s going on and talk with Will to see how he’s responding. That’s kind of how we’re staying in touch.”
Friday scores
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Dominican Republic 10, Korea 0 (7 innings)
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United States 5, Canada 3
Saturday schedule
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Italy vs. Puerto Rico, 12 p.m. PT (FS1)
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Japan vs. Venezuela, 6 p.m. (Fox)
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