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Here's more on the controversial strike out against Geraldo Perdomo in the 2026 WBC against USA.
Geraldo Perdomo strikeout controversy, explained: How umpire botched huge call in final pitch of WBC semifinal originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Whenever you have a sporting event that is played on a big stage, the last thing you want is for the game to come down to an incorrect call by an official.
But that is what happened as the United States beat the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic semifinals. Major League Baseball is instituting robot umpires for the 2026 regular season, but international baseball rules don't use them or a challenge system. Team USA benefited from two strikeout calls that were pretty egregious, especially when you see where they ended up.
The first came against Juan Soto in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he went down looking to begin the frame. While that one was bad, the more egregious one unfortunately came on the final pitch of the game. Geraldo Perdomo was batting with the game-tying run on third.
He was facing a full count and was rung up on a pitch that was clearly low. While it was inherently a bad call, it was the biggest of the night as it ended the game, eliminated the Dominican Republic, and sent the U. S.