MIAMI – Call them “La nueva fila de asesinos.”
With players who have combined for 1,332 career Major League homers in the lineup against the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic lineup truly was a new Murderer’s Row, getting four homers from four different batters in a 12-1, seven-inning win over the Netherlands to improve to 2-0 in Pool D, pushing themselves one win closer to a pool-deciding showdown against Venezuela on Tuesday night and all but ensuring they’ll advance to the quarterfinals.
The Dominican Republic will face Israel tomorrow at noon, and a win would assure they advance out of Pool D to a quarterfinal, where they would face either Japan should they finish second in Pool D or the Pool C runner-up if they finish atop the five teams in Miami.
Supported by four innings of three-hit ball from starter Luis Severino, the Dominican lineup went bananas, getting on the board in the bottom of the first and never trailing. After walks to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte, cleanup hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s single to left drove in Tatis for a 1-0 Dominican lead. Two batters later, Junior Caninero’s weak grounder to first got Marte home when the double play relay throw from Netherlands shortstop Xander Bogaerts was off the mark.
The Netherlands cut into the Dominican lead in the top of the second when former New York Yankee Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer, but that was all the offense the Dutch were able to find.
In the third, Ketel Marte led off by drawing a four-pitch walk from Netherlands starter Arij Fransen, and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made pay two batters later with a two-run homer to left.
Two innings later, the Dominican Republic offense exploded, sending 11 batters to the plate and getting a three-run homer from Junior Caminero, a two-run homer from No. 8 hitter Austin Wells, and a sac fly from Ketel Marte that scored Erik Gonzalez, making it 10-1 as the spectre of the World Baseball Classic’s mercy rule loomed over loanDepot Park.
Juan Soto’s two-run homer in the seventh ended the game, giving the Dominican Republic a 12-1 win. World Baseball Classic rules hold that a game will end when a team leads by 15 runs at any point or when a team has a 10-run lead after the start of the seventh inning.
Every starter for the D.R. scored at least one run, with Marte going 0-for-0 with three walks, a sac fly, and three runs scored, and Soto scoring twice, first on the homer by Caminero and again with his game-ending dinger.
For the Netherlands, which fell to 1-2, the loss leaves them mathematically alive though unlikely to advance, as they would need to beat Israel and also need the Dominican Republic or Venezuela to lose both their remaining games and then win a tiebreaker. They’ll close out pool play on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EDT against Israel.
NOTEBOOK – Erik Gonzalez got the start at shortstop because Geraldo Perdomo was ill with a cold. Manager Albert Pujols said they decided to keep him out of the lineup against the Netherlands so he’s ready to play Monday against Israel. … Marte, who left the March 6 win against Nicaragua for Oneil Cruz in the eighth, came out as a precaution as well, Pujols said. The second baseman is fine, and will be in the lineup again tomorrow. … Pujols said that several of his players are sick, but wouldn’t reveal which ones. A similar situation occurred at the 2025 Caribbean Series, where the flu ripped through the Dominican Republic clubhouse, sending at least one player to the hospital to get fluids. Pujols’ Leones del Escogido won the Caribbean Series despite the illnesses.
Photo: Juan Soto watches his ball as he hits a two-run homer to win by early termination in the seventh inning of a World Baseball Classic game against the Netherlands, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
