Monday was an interesting day in the World Baseball Classic.
Team Puerto Rico won a big game against Team Israel.
Puerto Rico defeated Israel by a final score of 10-0 and ended up throwing the first perfect game in WBC history.
However, there was another interesting twist.
Because of the WBC’s mercy rule, the hit that scored the 10th run in the bottom of the eighth inning was ultimately what ended the game.
The mercy rule states that if a team is leading by 10 or more runs after seven innings, the game can end.
The game can also end if a team is leading by 15 or more runs following the fifth inning of play.
On Twitter, MLB insider Jeff Passan recapped the wildness of Monday’s game.
Here's a sentence that has never been written before and won't ever be written again: A baseball team just finished a perfect game with a walk-off hit in the eighth inning.
Puerto Rico 10, Israel 0
Four pitchers combine for the first perfect game in WBC history. Mercy-rule win.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 14, 2023
Indeed, it was a perfect game.
And yet in an interesting twist, Puerto Rico won the game in walk-off fashion.
Obviously, it’s not your typical walk-off, when two teams are tied and the home team wins the game in their final at-bat.
The home team was Puerto Rico, and they did win the game in their final at-bat, but it was only because the game-winning hit put the mercy rule in effect.
And so, Puerto Rico celebrated a non-traditional walk-off win on Monday, which put them at 2-1 and just a game behind Venezuela in Pool D, which is being played at loanDepot Park in Miami.
Only teams in Pools A and B have advanced to the next round.
Pools C and D will conclude on Wednesday.
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