The Dominican Republic’s baseball team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) wore “Dominicana” on their jerseys, and was all about showing the world what “Platano Power” is all about. The team rolled past all the teams in group D: Venezuela, Nicaragua, Israel, and The Netherlands.
The game against The Netherlands was only seven innings as Juan Soto hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, making the score12-1, and ending the game under the “Mercy” rule. This was the first time in the history of the WBC that there was a walk-off home run in the seventh inning to win a game.
Classifying in first place in Group D, Dominicana had to face South Korea in the quarterfinals. Contrary to earlier game where the big hitters for the Dominican team teed off on opposing pitchers, sending ball after ball into the outfield seats at Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida, in the game against South Korea, it was steady batting of base hits, that produced a 7-0 lead going into the seventh inning. Korea had a better second half with their pitchers, but it was too late.
With Manny Machado and Julio Rodriguez on base, Manager Albert Pujols sent catcher Austin Wells to pinch hit for Agustin Ramirez. Wells only had two hits in eleven turns at bat, one of which was a home run. On the first pitch, Wells sent the ball into the upper deck of the right field bleachers, marking another knockout and ending another game in the seventh inning, with a score of 10-0.
As of that game the Dominican team had hit 14 home runs, tying the all-time record of homeruns set in 2009 by Mexico. The DR as it qualified to the quarter finals had scored 51 runs in its four games, averaging 10+ runs per game.
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DR vs Venezuela
16 March 2026