Dominicans power past Venezuela to finalize WBC quarterfinals

The Dominican Republic blasted four homers in a 7-5 win over rival Venezuela on Wednesday in Miami to win Pool D at the World Baseball Classic.

Reliever Elvis Alvarado got Salvador Perez to ground into a game-ending double play in the ninth inning with the potential tying run on first base.

Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Fernando Tatis Jr. went deep to help the Dominicans set a quarterfinals date with Korea on Friday. Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will start that game for the Dominican. Meanwhile, Venezuela will take on defending champion Japan on Saturday, with a berth in the semifinals on the line.

Tatis' epic three-run homer in the fourth ended up being the difference in the highly anticipated contest.

Maikel Garcia went 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in a losing effort.

Venezuela will start left-hander Ranger Suarez, while the high-powered Japanese squad is countering with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The USA faces Canada on Friday, and Italy will battle Puerto Rico on Saturday in the other elimination games.