The Dominican Republic, who were aiming to win the WBC = World Baseball Classic for the first time in two tournaments by gathering the top players from the big leagues, were eliminated in the final game of the first round, and Puerto Rico advanced to the quarterfinals.
The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the runners-up for the second consecutive World Cup, have both won and lost 2 in the final match of Group D of the first round on 2 June in Miami, Florida.
The stadium was packed to capacity with about 1,15 spectators, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals and the loser being eliminated.
Puerto Rico opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning off Dominican Republic starter Cueto, who has won 143 major league games, and struck out the substitute pitcher to score four runs on five hits in the inning.
The Dominican Republic rallied with one run in the bottom of the first on Soto's home run, but center fielder Julio Rodriguez missed a hit by Puerto Rico's Lindor in the fifth inning and allowed an extra run on an error.
Puerto Rico connected eight pitchers to hold the hard-hitting Dominican Republic to six hits, and in the ninth inning, Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz struck out three in a row to give Puerto Rico a 3-5 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.
At the end of the game, all the Puerto Rican players jumped off the bench to celebrate, while the Dominican players pulled up with dazed expressions.
The Dominican Republic was aiming to win the tournament for the first time in two tournaments with the top players from the big leagues in pitching, but they were eliminated in the first round for the first time since the 4 tournament after losing to Venezuela and Puerto Rico, who also had many major league players.