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The final strike in the 2026 World Baseball Classic semifinal between the United States and the Dominican Republic was a controversial call — one that still isn’t sitting well with those on the losing side.
Mason Miller's strikeout of Geraldo Perdomo in the bottom of the ninth inning sealed the 2-1 victory for the U.S. In the moment, Perdomo did not like the call by home plate umpire Cory Blaser, which was shown to have been low and out of the strike zone for ball four.
"I knew 100% it was a ball," Perdomo told ESPN. "I knew it."
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In response to being slighted in a big moment, Dominican beer company Presidente, a preferred beverage of Nick Castellanos, collaborated with Perdomo, Junior Caminero, and manager Nelson Cruz to release a new can design capturing the missed call with an outline of a strike zone and a pitch landing low. “Our pride never strikes out,” is written out above the zone.
“They can take away that it was a ball, but never the pride of having the team with the most flavor of the series,” read the caption on the company’s Instagram post.
Following the game, there were calls for the next World Baseball Classic to institute the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, so strike-zone calls can’t be reviewed.
While Perdomo was frustrated by the call, he admitted that the game wasn’t lost on that one pitch. The Dominican Republic had a few moments in the contest when it failed to cash in with runners in scoring position. The team also had some key baserunning mistakes in the game.
The U.S. advanced to its third straight WBC final and ended up losing to Venezuela 3-2.
Continue reading...
Mason Miller's strikeout of Geraldo Perdomo in the bottom of the ninth inning sealed the 2-1 victory for the U.S. In the moment, Perdomo did not like the call by home plate umpire Cory Blaser, which was shown to have been low and out of the strike zone for ball four.
"I knew 100% it was a ball," Perdomo told ESPN. "I knew it."
Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season
In response to being slighted in a big moment, Dominican beer company Presidente, a preferred beverage of Nick Castellanos, collaborated with Perdomo, Junior Caminero, and manager Nelson Cruz to release a new can design capturing the missed call with an outline of a strike zone and a pitch landing low. “Our pride never strikes out,” is written out above the zone.
“They can take away that it was a ball, but never the pride of having the team with the most flavor of the series,” read the caption on the company’s Instagram post.
Following the game, there were calls for the next World Baseball Classic to institute the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge system, so strike-zone calls can’t be reviewed.
While Perdomo was frustrated by the call, he admitted that the game wasn’t lost on that one pitch. The Dominican Republic had a few moments in the contest when it failed to cash in with runners in scoring position. The team also had some key baserunning mistakes in the game.
The U.S. advanced to its third straight WBC final and ended up losing to Venezuela 3-2.
Continue reading...
