Pittsburgh’s fingerprints were all over Team USA WBC semifinal win

The scoreboard will remember it simply: United States 2, Dominican Republic 1.

But anyone who watched Sunday night’s World Baseball Classic semifinal knows this was more than a win. It was tension, drama, star power and a postseason-level atmosphere inside loanDepot Park in Miami. And in a game stacked with global superstars, Pittsburgh’s fingerprints were everywhere.

Pirates ace Paul Skenes earned the win on the mound. A Pittsburgh native, David Bednar, was credited with a hold. Another, Mason Miller, got the save. (Another Pirates pitcher, Gregory Soto, was credited with the loss — but we won't focus on that right now.)

"It’s what we do as Yinzers," Skenes told Pirates insider Jason Mackey after the game. "I guess I’m an honorary Yinzer. Yinzers are gritty. They do what it takes. [David Bednar] and Mason [Miller] have been doing what it takes. It’s been awesome."

Indeed, it has.

Pittsburgh left its mark on World Baseball Classic by helping decide semifinal matchup between USA and Dominican Republic

If you wanted to design a nightmare assignment for a pitcher, it might look exactly like the Dominican Republic’s lineup. Fernando Tatis Jr., Ketel Marte. Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado are basically a baseball Avengers team — and that's what Skenes was up against on Sunday.

The Dominican Republic entered the semifinal averaging more than 10 runs per game in the tournament and had already tied the World Baseball Classic record for home runs before Junior Caminero broke it with a solo shot off Skenes in the second inning.

And yet, the Pirates ace never blinked. Skenes worked 4 1/3 innings, allowed just one run, and walked nobody, navigating traffic and elite hitters with the poise that has already made him one of the game’s most feared pitchers.

But the Pirates connection didn’t end when Skenes walked off the mound. When the seventh inning arrived, Bednar — a Pittsburgh native and former Pirates closer — took the ball with the game hanging by a thread.

Almost immediately, things unraveled. A double, a single, a stolen base, and suddenly the Dominicans had runners on second and third with one out — the tying run 90 feet away.

That’s when Bednar did what he has quietly done throughout the tournament (and his career): he escaped. Strikeout of Tatis. Strikeout of Marte. Jam over.

In a tournament where every inning feels like October, Bednar has repeatedly walked the tightrope — and survived.

Then came the ninth — and if the game already felt like a movie, the ending only added to it. Miller, a Bethel Park native who throws triple-digit heat like it's nothing, took the ball to close it out. Thirteen of his pitches hit 100 mph or higher, reminding everyone that the Pittsburgh area seems to produce flamethrowers the way Texas produces quarterbacks.

But of course, nothing about this game was going to be easy. Julio Rodríguez walked. A wild pitch moved him into scoring position. A groundout advanced him to third. The tying run once again stood 90 feet away, this time with two outs. But Miller snapped off a wicked slider that froze Geraldo Perdomo for strike three, sealing the 2-1 victory and sending Team USA to the championship game.

Look at the line score and it might look like a typical pitchers’ duel. A Pirate got the win, a Pirate took the loss, a Pittsburgh native stranded the tying run, and another Pittsburgh native struck out the final better. On a night when the baseball world watched one of the most electric games in WBC history, the Steel City’s influence was impossible to miss.

Pittsburgh didn’t just have representation in this game. Pittsburgh helped decide it. And if Team USA lifts the trophy in the championship game, there’s a good chance the road to that title will forever run through one unforgettable semifinal night — where the stars shined, the pressure soared, and Pittsburgh left its mark on the World Baseball Classic.