SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The California dreaming continues for the Dominican Republic.
Odalis Perez was stellar on the mound, the Dominican Republic offense was explosive at the plate and if there were any remaining doubts, the scoreboard at Hiram Bithorn Stadium said it all.
The Dominican Republic 7, Cuba 3.
Less than 24 hours after losing to Puerto Rico in its first game of the second round, the team from the Dominican Republic (1-1) rebounded quickly, taking advantage of two Cuba (1-1) errors and showing its determination to make it to the next round of the World Baseball Classic in San Diego.
The goal is to win it all at PETCO Park, but first things first. The Dominican Republic squares off against Venezuela on Tuesday in the club\'s biggest game of Round 2 and a rematch of Pool D\'s marquee matchup in the first round.
"Obviously, these guys are professional. They\'ve been playing in the big leagues for years, and they\'re used to ups and downs," Dominican Republic manager Manny Acta said. "As the saying goes, it\'s not how you fall, but how you get back up, and these guys understood that today because if we didn\'t get up today, we would have been packing to go to Spring Training tomorrow."
It was Perez who made Tuesday\'s game against Venezuela matter. He also made Cuba\'s offense a non-factor.
The Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander shut down the upset-minded Cubans for 4 2/3 strong innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three batters during the 48-pitch effort, never allowing Cuba\'s offensive stars to shine or build any momentum.
"It\'s very important because we won," Perez said. "If we can come back and score eight or nine runs [against Venezuela], we will go to the finals."
Perez gave up a single to Cuba shortstop and captain Eduardo Paret to start the game, but Paret was quickly wiped off the basepaths when third baseman Michel Enriquez hit into a double play. Yulieski Gourriel, Cuba\'s top young player, followed with a single and Osmani Urrutia walked, but neither would advance to third base.
In fact, no Cuba player would advance past second base against Perez.
Carlos Tabares\' single on a bunt to Dominican Republic third baseman Adrian Beltre in the third inning would be the last hit Perez allowed, but Tabares was also cleared off the bases when Enriguez hit into his second double play.
Everything seemed to be going Perez\'s way.
He retired all three hitters he faced in the fourth and struck out Frederich Cepeda and Ariel Pestano to start the fifth before yielding to Jorge Sosa with a 5-0 lead.
His big secret was really no secret at all.
"I was mixing all my pitches, my changeup, then my fastball," Perez said. "I was able to go farther in the game and come out with a victory."
Indeed.
Perez was good, throwing 32 strikes, but he could have been better. The Dodgers star finished 32 pitches short of reaching the 80-pitch limit for pitchers in the second round of the World Baseball Classic as part of an agreement made between Dominican manager Manny Acta and Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Perez was pitching on three days\' rest.
It didn\'t matter. Perez was pitching on adrenaline and pride alone.
"I\'m proud to be here," Perez said. "In the next four years, if they do the tournament again, if I\'m able, if I\'m around to play ball ... believe me, I\'d be very proud to come back again and represent my country."
That said, Perez will be the first to admit he is still preparing for the regular season. At times, the Dominican hitters looked like they were in regular-season form.
In the third inning, Miguel Tejada hit a two-run double and later scored along with Albert Pujols on a throwing error by Enriquez for a 4-0 lead.
In the fourth, Ronny Paulino hit a double and came home on a fielding error by Ariel Borrero at first base. David Ortiz hit a deep home run over the stands in right field in the fifth inning to extend the Dominican Republic\'s lead to 6-0. Ortiz would come through again, this time in the sixth, when he drew a bases-loaded walk that brought home Wily Taveras for the Dominican Republic\'s seventh run.
Cuba scored its first run in the eighth inning and two more runs in the ninth until Fernando Rodney struck out Joan Carlos Pedroso to end the game with the bases loaded.
"I think we could have played a lot better than what we played," Acta said. "We probably should have scored 12 runs. We didn\'t execute and do the things we were supposed to do. It\'s sad that I had to use [closer] Fernando Rodney and am unable to use him tomorrow."', tagline: 'Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com.', summary: null, article_photo: { caption: 'David Ortiz watches his fifth-inning homer leave the park against Cuba.', credit: 'Jeff Zelevansky/MLB.com', path: '/images/2006/03/13/zADVDrdS.jpg' }, sub_headline: 'Tejada, Ortiz lead offense; Rodney finishes much-needed win', alt_headline: 'Dominicans fight off feisty Cuba', related_links: null, headline: 'D.R. fights off feisty Team Cuba' }