Baseball fans and legends were left furious on Sunday night after Team USA beat the Dominican Republic with the help of a controversial call by the umpire.
Closing pitcher Mason Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo to secure a 2-1 win that saw Team USA reach a third consecutive final of the World Baseball Classic.
But the game ended in controversy after American umpire Cory Blaser called a strike on the decisive pitch. Perdomo immediately put his hands to his head in disbelief and afterwards many echoed his frustration.
After replays appeared to show the ball dropping well below the strike zone, fans let rip at the official on social media. ‘Terrible,’ one wrote.
‘Bro I want US to win but WHAT THE HECK IS THAT,’ said another. ‘The ump just wanted to go home,’ joked a third.
On the Fox postgame show, baseball icon Alex Rodriguez said: ‘You just hate to end a game this big with these types of consequences on a pitch that’s not a strike.’
Geraldo Perdomo shows his frustration after being struck out at the death against Team USA
It was not the only contentious call to go against the Dominican Republic on Sunday night. In the eighth inning, Juan Soto was struck out on another pitch that appeared to be outside the strike zone.
Many baseball fans – including Yankees legend Derek Jeter – used the incident to demand the use of technology to help call strikes. ‘Umpires calling pitches is outdated, the game has passed the human eye by,’ one supporter argued.
‘Why is baseball still called via umpires and not an automatic system to always get the right strike and balls called,’ another said.
‘You can pretty much guarantee they’re going to have the challenge system in place for the next WBC,’ Jeter said. ‘You hate to end a game that way.’
The USA secured a 2-1 win in a nerve-shredding semifinal against the Dominican Republic
Beginning in 2026, players in Major League Baseball will be allowed to appeal umpires’ calls using the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System.
In Sunday night’s semifinal, Junior Caminero gave the Dominicans an early lead, only for Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony to turn the game on its head and put the US 2-1 in front in the fourth inning.
That remained the score all the way until the bottom of the ninth, when Miller held his nerve. The USA will now play Italy or Venezuela in Tuesday’s final after limiting the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to a single run.
Aaron Judge’s team is just one win from capturing its second World Baseball Classic championship. The loaded American roster, led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring other stars including Bryce Harper, reached its third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023.
