The Dominican Republic defeated Venezuela 9-3 yesterday evening, Thursday 7 March, in its first game in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the continuing of the first round of the World Baseball Classic. Dominican Republic starter Edinson Volquez of the Padres was the winning pitcher.
The DR is making a bid for its first championship. Previous championships have been won by Japan and the Netherlands. The Dominicans were fourth in 2006 but suffered an unexpected first-round knockout in 2009, when they lost two one-run contests to the Netherlands.
The DR, playing in Pool C, entered the tournament with all the confidence of a team that had successfully defeated the Phillies 15-2 on Tuesday and the Yankees 8-2 on Wednesday, combining 41 hits. The team features the offensive power of Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion, Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes. The other teams in Pool C are Puerto Rico and Spain. The top two will move on to the second round at Miami’s Marlins Park from 12-16 March against the top two from the Phoenix Pool D of the United States, Canada, Italy and Mexico.
The DR will play Spain on Saturday, 9 March.