The United States advances to the third consecutive final of the World Baseball Classic after beating the Dominican Republic 2-1

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony homered and the United States limited the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to win a thrilling 2-1 semifinal Sunday and move within one victory of capturing its second World Baseball Classic championship.

Loaded American squad led by National League Cy Young Award winner Pablo Skenesand featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge, reached their third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The Americans will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Italy and Venezuela in Tuesday’s title game.

The Dominicans reached the semifinals for the first time since winning the WBC title in 2013, but missing out on the championship was not the goal for a roster that featured six players who finished in the top 10 in MVP voting last year and cruised through the early rounds of this WBC.

They faced their biggest test of the tournament against Skenes (2-0), who allowed one run and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, and the American bullpen, which kept the Dominicans scoreless the rest of the game.

The Dominican Republic threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodríguez walked and advanced to third against Mason Miller. With two outs, Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo on a pitch that looked well below the zone for his second save.

Junior Caminero hit a solo shot off Skenes in the second to give the Dominicans a tournament record 15 home runs, surpassing the mark set by Mexico in 2009. He finished the tournament hitting .350.

The confrontation between the two star-studded lineups did not fail to generate great moments, especially on defense.

Judge started the third with a 95.7 mph laser from right field to put Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. The Yankees All-Star then found himself on the other end of a big defensive play in the fifth when Rodriguez, one inning after being hit on the wrist by a 98 mph fastball from Skenes, scaled the center field wall to rob Judge of a home run.

Henderson, starting at third base over Alex Bregman, homered off Luis Severino to tie the score in the fourth before Anthony hit the go-ahead homer, sinking a 3-2 count off loser Gregory Soto.