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The Dominican Republic prevailed over Colombia on Sunday by a score of 10-3 in 11 innings. The 11th saw the World Baseball Classic extra-inning rule go into effect, as the D.R. started the frame with runners on first and second. They wound up plating seven runs in the inning. In the home half of the 11th, however, Colombia was unable to plate even one of those two runners.

The outcome means that the Dominican Republic advances to the next round after going a perfect 3-0 in pool play. Here’s a look at the updated pool standings ... 

POOL C StandingsWL

Dominican Republic

3

0

United States

1

1

Colombia

1

2

Canada

0

2

Entering Sunday night’s United States-Canada game, Pool C features a 3-0 team (Dominican Republic), one 1-1 team (United States), one 1-2 team (Colombia), and an 0-2 team (Canada). The top two teams in Pool C will advance to the second round of the tournament -- Pool F. 

We know the D.R. is moving on, but what about that second and final spot in the next round? Let’s break down each scenario based on what happens in the U.S.-Canada game.

First, here’s a look at the (absurdly complicated) tiebreaker rules for pool play in the WBC ... 

Got all that? Now for the scenarios ... 

USA wins

This one’s simple: If the U.S. beats Canada on Sunday night, then the U.S. will join the D.R. in the next round, and Canada and Colombia will be eliminated from the 2017 WBC.

Canada wins

This is where things get complicated. A Canada win over the U.S. on Sunday night means that Pool C will have three 1-2 teams. That will mean that two teams will play a tiebreaker to determine who advances with the Dominican Republic. To determine which two, the tiebreakers noted above will kick in. 

  • If Canada beats the U.S. by a score of 1-0 or 2-0 in a 10-inning game or longer, then Canada and the U.S. will play the tiebreaker game.
  • If Canada wins by one or two runs in a nine-inning game, then the U.S. and Colombia will play the tiebreaker game. 
  • If Canada wins by three or more runs in a nine-inning game, then Canada and Colombia will play the tiebreaker.

Also, bear in mind that if the game goes longer than nine innings, that changes the calculation. For example, if Canada wins 3-1 but does so in 15 innings, that gives Canada a slight tiebreaker advantage over Colombia by giving up five runs in 24 innings (or about .2083 runs per inning) between common games, while Colombia will have allowed four runs in 18 2/3 innings (or about .2143 runs per inning).

Got all that? Play ball. 

This post initially didn’t account for the extra-inning game between USA and Colombia. The tiebreaker scenarios above have been updated.