Dominican Republic wins WBC

The Dominican Republic is the champion of the World Baseball Classic.

The Dominican capped off a perfect run through the WBC with a 3-0 win over Puerto Rico Tuesday night in San Francisco.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Samuel Deduno was sharp again on the mound. The right-hander fired five shutout innings as the Dominican never trailed in the game.

Deduno, in competition to be a member of the Twins starting staff, allowed just two hits and three walks over five sparkling innings. He also registered five strikeouts.

Edwin Encarnacion put the Dominican Republic up 2-0 early with 2-run double that scored Toronto Blue Jays star shortstop Jose Reyes and New York Yankees standout second baseman Robinson Cano.

Encarnacion clubbed 42 home runs last season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Dominican added a single run in the bottom of the fifth when L.A. Angels shortstop Erick Aybar doubled in Fernando De Aza of the Chicago White Sox to make it 3-0.

Reyes and Aybar each had two hits to pace the Dominican Republic, which finished the WBC with a perfect 8-0 record.

The Dominican Republic is the first nation other than Japan to win the event. Japan won the first two World Baseball Classics and was eliminated by Puerto Rico in the semifinals on Sunday.

“Whoever wins the Classic is really the Caribbeans,” Dominican manager Tony Pena said before the game. “It could be Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, but it will belong to the Caribbeans.”

Tags: sports, baseball