New York Yankees setup man Dellin Betances registered a scoreless frame during his first appearance with the Dominican Republic.
While the Team Dominican Republic offense showed no mercy in their 9-2 win over Team Canada on Thursday night, New York Yankees setup man Dellin Betances represented his team well.
The 6-foot-8 right-hander pitched the eighth inning for the DR and didn’t allow a single run or hit. He walked Tyler O’Neill to lead off the frame but got Freddie Freeman to line out, Eric Wood to fly out and struck out Rene Tosoni on an 86.8 mph slider to register a scoreless inning.
Former Yankee manager Joe Torre had invited Betances to represent Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but since his parents were born in the Dominican Republic, he decided to represent his roots.
Betances is coming off an All-Star campaign in which he led major league baseball with a strikeout-per-nine ratio of 15.53 and since becoming a reliever in 2014, the 28-year old has registered the most strikeouts (392) among major league relievers.
After this win, the DR, managed by Yankees’ bench coach Tony Pena, will face off against team USA on Saturday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET.