The Dominicans, coming off a 7-1 loss to Puerto Rico, needed a victory to sustain a strong chance at reaching Saturday's semi-finals of the first global tournament to feature Major League Baseball players.

Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Perez surrendered only three hits and a walk in frustrating the reigning Olympic champions while the Dominican Republic rolled to a 5-0 lead.

Miguel Tejada hit a two-run double in the third inning to open the scoring and an errant throw by Cuban third baseman Michel Enriquez allowed two more runs to score later in the inning.

Ortiz homered in the fifth inning and was walked with the bases loaded in the sixth to give the Dominicans a 7-0 lead.

The Cubans scored twice in the ninth and loaded the bases to bring Joan Carlos Pedrosa to the plate as the potential tying run, but Fernando Rodney struck him out to deliver Cuba's first loss in two second-round games.

Vicyohandry Odelin took the loss, surrendering three runs on two hits in 2 1/3 innings.