World Baseball Classic action on Friday featured a historic but brief outing from Cristopher Sanchez as the left-hander helped the Dominican Republic national baseball team take down the Nicaragua national baseball team 12-3 in Pool D at loanDepot Park.
Sanchez made tournament history in the opening inning by striking out four batters, becoming the first pitcher in the 20-year history of the WBC to record four strikeouts in a single inning. The inning began with Nicaragua leadoff hitter Chase Dawson swinging through strike three, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach first base. Consecutive singles by Benjamin Alegria and Ismael Munguia followed, with Munguia driving in Dawson to give Nicaragua a 1-0 lead.
The situation escalated when Mark Vientos drew a walk to load the bases with no outs, leading Dominican pitching coach Wellington Cepeda to visit the mound. Sanchez responded by striking out Omar Mendoza, Emanuel Trujillo, and Melvin Novoa to escape the inning. The final strikeout gave him his fourth of the frame and placed him in the tournament's record books.
For all the history he made in that inning, Sanchez's time on the mound was pretty short. He got just four outs over 1⅓ innings, throwing 43 pitches against 12 batters. The left-hander allowed six hits, five singles and one double, while issuing one walk and striking out four. Nicaragua added two more runs in the second inning on a Freddy Zamora RBI double and a Dawson single that scored after a fielding error in left field by Juan Soto, giving Nicaragua a 3-2 lead before Sanchez was removed.
Manager Albert Pujols turned to reliever Huascar Brazoban to finish the inning, and Dominican relievers later combined to record 13 consecutive outs as the pitching stabilized.
The Dominican offense then took control. Julio Rodriguez tied the game in the third with an RBI single. In the sixth, Junior Caminero launched a two-run home run to center field to put the Dominican Republic ahead. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in a sacrifice fly in the seventh before a six-run eighth inning clinched the win. Rodriguez homered to center, Oneil Cruz hit a three-run home run, Guerrero knocked home an RBI double, and Rodriguez picked up another RBI single.
