Puerto Rico throws 8-inning perfecto vs Israel in WBC

TOKYO (AP) — José De León and three relievers combined to pitch a perfect game as Puerto Rico routed Israel 10-0 in a World Baseball Classic game called after eight innings because of the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule. De León tied a WBC record with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander was lifted after he fanned Spencer Horwitz on his 64th pitch, one under the tournament limit for starting pitchers in the first round. He exited to a huge ovation from the prohibitive Puerto Rico crowd of 27,813 in Miami. Earlier in the day, Kunwoo Park and Ha-Seong Kim hit grand slams in consecutive innings, and South Korea set a World Baseball Classic scoring record with a 22-2 blowout of China in a game between teams that were already eliminated.