DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

It was a toque de queda (curfew) with Dominican streets quiet as families and friends tuned into “the game.” Team DR secured a hard-fought 7-5 victory over Venezuela at the IoanDepot ball park in Miami, Florida and moved to the quarterfinals with a first round 2026 WBC record 13 home runs.

Albert Pujols and Nelson Cruz’s team got the job done in Pool D to clinch the group 4-0. The win means Team DR will face South Korea on Friday (6:30pm ET). Quarterfinal games are scheduled for the IoanDepot ball park in Miami, Florida.

Venezuela now gets to face formidable reigning champion Japan (winner of three WBCs – 2006, 2009, 2023) on Saturday. Japan, Italy and the Dominican Republic are the only teams to have won all their games in their pools.

For the game against Venezuela, the Dominican Republic needed all its runs, six pitchers and all the fan support in...