The Dominican Republic’s historic “Achilles’ heel” in the World Baseball Classic had been the Netherlands, specifically after the Netherlands had surprised and won the two games against Team DR in the 2009 edition, impeding that the DR pass to the next phase back then. But that is now in the past, after Team DR revenged and moved forward with a “knockout” victory against Netherlands.
On Sunday, 8 March 2026, the Dominican Republic played the Netherlands at the Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida. At the beginning of the second inning, major leaguer Didi Gregorious hit a home run for the Netherlands, but that would be all that Netherlands could score. The game at the start was tight, 2-1, in favor of the Dominican team for the first two innings.
Manny Machado, Ketel Marte, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the DR off to a good start.
And then, in the third inning Guerrero Jr. hit a home run with Ketel Marte on base. It was then 4-1. In the fifth inning, Junior Caminero hit his second home run in two games, with Juan Soto and Manny Machado on base. 7-1.
New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells hits a home run with Julio Rodriguez on base. 9-1. Erik Gonzalez gets on base, advances to third, and Ketel Marte hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Gonzalez. The game became 10-1.
In the seventh inning, Ketel Marte is on base and Juan Soto hits a home run, ending the game on the “Mercy Rule.” 12-1 Dominican Republic. In the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), the mercy rule dictates that a game ends early during pool play and quarterfinals if a team leads by 15 or more runs after five innings, or 10 or more runs after seven innings. This rule is designed to prevent exceptionally one-sided games from continuing.
The DR as of the morning of Monday, 9 March 2026 is 2-0 in the World Baseball Classic. On Monday, 9 March, Team DR will play Israel at noon. If Israel is defeated, the DR would improve to a 3-0 record. Since the first round uses a round-robin format where only the top two teams from each pool advance, a 3-0 start ensures that no more than one other team (Venezuela) could finish with a better or equal record.
Forecasts into the championship have signaled out Venezuela as one of the stronger contenders to win the WBC. Venezuela has also won its first two games. The DR is scheduled to play Venezuela on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 at 8pm ET.
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Listin Diario
MLB
Listin Diario
9 March 2026