The Dominican Republic rallied from a four run deficit with three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Italy 5-4 in the World Baseball Classic. Italy scored four runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Liddi and a three run homer by Chris Colabello, but failed to score another run over the final eight innings.
Five relievers limited Italy to one hit and no runs over the final 4 2-3 innings after Edinson Volquez allowed four runs in 4 1-3 innings.
The Dominicans scored runs in the third sixth and added three runs in the seventh. Nelson Cruz‘s two-out RBI single broke a seventh-inning tie. Crus has six RBI in for WBC games. Jose Reyes and Robinson Cano home runs for the Dominican Republic. Fernando Rodney picked up his third save of the tournament after walking one batter in the ninth.
