Tatis launches Dominican Republic's first-ever grand slam in the World Baseball Classic, igniting the crowd with a stylish bat flip.

Fernando Tatis Jr., though now playing for the the "Grand Slam City" of San Diego, brought that same energy to the Dominican team. In today's 10-1 victory over Israel, the Padres superstar blasted a grand slam in the second inning, marking the Dominican Republic's first grand slam in World Baseball Classic history.

Israel's starting left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager faced the Dominican lineup, which had no obvious weaknesses, and found himself in trouble with the bases loaded. After Geraldo Perdomo drew a walk to force in the first run of the game, Tatis stepped up to the plate.

Prager consistently tried to disrupt the Dominican batters with his slower pitches. Against Tatis, he threw two consecutive 77 mph changeups. After Tatis fouled off an 87.7 mph fastball, Prager went back to the changeup, but he couldn't fool Tatis.

Tatis sent the ball 400 feet deep into the left-field stands, knowing it was gone as soon as it left his bat. The Dominican team has never lacked passionate celebrations in this tournament, and Tatis added a dramatic flourish with a stylish bat flip.

Tatis's grand slam was the fourth of this Classic, tying the 2023 tournament for the most grand slams in a single Classic. It was also the Dominican Republic's eighth home run of the tournament. Just two innings later, Oneil Cruz blasted a right-field line-drive homer off Zack Weiss, increasing the team's total to nine home runs.

Cruz's homer tied the Dominican Republic's single-tournament record for home runs in the Classic (9 in both 2006 and 2017), and they are now five away from the all-time Classic team record (14 by Mexico in 2009). The exit velocity of 115.8 mph matched that of teammate Junior Caminero's homer against the Netherlands on Monday, tying for the second-fastest exit velocity for a homer in the last two Classics (since tracking began). Cruz's monstrous 116.8 mph blast against Nicaragua last Saturday remains the hardest-hit home run in the Classic's tracking era.