Who pitched in Puerto Rico's Perfect Game in World Baseball Classic? Meet the flamethrowers who etched their names into the history books

The Puerto Rico perfect game was a historic event. After finishing against Israel without allowing a single baserunner, they became the first World Baseball Classic team to ever do that.

However, it wasn't quite a full-perfect game. Instead, they only played eight innings thanks to the WBC mercy rule. When the Puerto Rican offense scored to push the lead to 10 runs, the game ended.

This is a unique WBC rule, but it hasn't caused a perfect game yet. That is until Puerto Rico faced Israel and blanked them over eight innings.

Nevertheless, it was an impressive and historic game for the Puerto Rican side, regardless of how long it took.

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Pitchers who played in Puerto Rico's perfect game

Jose De Leon started the game, and he was masterful. He pitched 5.2 perfect innings with an absurd 10 strikeouts. He certainly had his best stuff on the mound. Unfortunately, his MLB career has not gone the same way.

He has a cumulative bWAR of -1.7. He's pitched sparingly since 2016, only appearing in 22 games from 2016 to 2021. Still, he now goes down in history for his excellent start.

De Leon was followed by Yacksel Rios, who pitched the final out of the sixth inning with a strikeout. He was then replaced by All-Star New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz. He threw another perfect inning, striking out one more.

Edwin Diaz in the Puerto Rico perfect game

Duane Underwood Jr. closed the game by pitching one more perfect inning. When the game ended via the mercy rule, the pitching staff didn't have to stress about remaining perfect for one more inning.