Bautista hits walk-off single to lead Dominican Republic past Israel at Olympics
Former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the Dominican Republic to lead them to a dramatic win over Israel in an elimination game at the Olympics on Tuesday. Photo: WBSC
August 3, 2021
Official WBSC News Release
YOKOHAMA, Japan -- The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Baseball tournament put on another exciting walk-off performance on Tuesday night at Yokohama Stadium.
Six of the 11 games thus far have been walk-offs. All three of Korea’s victories at Tokyo 2020 have been walk-offs. Seven of the 11 games have been decided by three runs or less, shining a light on baseball on the biggest stage in sports, the Olympic Games.
In Tuesday night’s elimination game, the Dominican Republic was trailing Israel, 6-5, heading into the bottom of the 9th inning. With three outs away from one team's Olympic dream ending, Dominican slugger Johan Mieses tied the game with a towering home run off Zack Weiss.
"I was thinking about making good contact," said Mieses. "The guys kept yelling 'put the ball in play' from the dugout. I got a fastball right where I like it and took a good swing at it."
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star José Bautista, who threw a runner out at the plate in the fifth inning, singled with two outs on a hanging breaking ball by DJ Sharabi and walked the game off, preventing the game from going into the tie-breaker.
"It's my first hit in the tournament," said Bautista, "and it came at the right time. We were facing packing our bags and going home. Now we look forward to the medal race."
Danny Valencia’s home run off Jumbo Diaz in the eighth temporarily put Israel ahead, 6-5.
"I feel sad this has come to an end," commented Valencia. "It will take some time to go over it. It would have been amazing to go home with a win, but it's been a fun run anyway. Tokyo was fantastic, and I couldn't be prouder of my teammates and our manager. Hopefully, what we did will inspire kids to pick up a bat and a glove in Israel."
Israel manager Eric Holtz added: "The journey that began four years ago is not over. We will be competing in the European Championship in September. Right now, I want everybody to see where Israel Baseball comes from and where we are now, one inning from upsetting the Dominican Republic. If we can inspire people to play baseball in Israel, then we have done our job well."
In an iconic Olympic display of friendship and respect after the epic battle, players from both sides shook hands and had a warm exchange.
Bautista explained the motivation behind the teams coming together postgame: "Public opinion didn't believe Israel came here as the favorites, but they were able to put us against the wall. We respect how hard they fought, and we took a moment to embrace them. It may not be common in baseball, but we all felt like doing it."
Ian Kinsler, another former MLB All-Star, agreed: "It was a hard-fought game. They tried as hard as we did. Sportsmanship is what's the Olympics is all about."