Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic final score: Dominican Republic wins, 3-0

The D.R. scored three runs, but that was two more than they would need as they would shut out Puerto Rico on their way to their first World Baseball Classic championship.

Dominican starter Sam Deduno threw 5 shutout innings, and lead the team to the shutout win. They scored two runs in the first inning on an Edwin Encarnacion double, and the pitchers would take the rest. Puerto Rico did their best to try and climb back into the game near the end, but the Dominican bullpen was able to stop any potential comebacks in their tracks.

With the tournament coming to a close, we can probably be thankful for many things. Namely, Major League quality baseball in March, no more Bob Costas and Jim Kaat complaining about the Dominican players celebrating before the game was over (seriously who cares?), and just a general all-around competitive tournament.

The Dominican Republic looked like the best team throughout the tournament, and other than perhaps the upstart Netherlands team, they were the talk of the event. It was genuinely enjoyable to watch a team as talented as them have so much fun.

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