MIAMI – At the end, the final game of Pool D likely got a little closer than Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols would have liked, but his club pulled out a victory against Venezuela and avoided a matchup against defending champion Japan Wednesday night.
Behind homers from Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr., the Dominican Republic and its batting order, worth $2.328 billion if you add the total value of their current contracts together, won 7-5 to set up a quarterfinal matchup against South Korea on Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT at loanDepot Park. They swept through pool play with a 4-0 record, while Venezuela will have to beat Japan on Saturday night at 9 p.m. in Miami to find their way to the semifinal.
After Ketel Marte lashed a one-out single in the top of the first, Juan Soto homered to center field to give the Dominican republic a 2-0 lead early.
Venezuela cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning when Willson Contreras drove in Maikel Garcia with a single.
In the third, Marte launched a one-out solo shot to restore a two-run lead, and after Soto struck out looking, Venezuela manager Omar Lopez lifted starter Eduardo Rodriguez for Eduard Bazardo. On the fourth pitch after bazardo walked through the bullpen door, Guerrero hit a solo homer to make it 4-2.
Ronald Acuna Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, stole second, and then scored when Maikel Garcia doubled. Luis Arraez then doubled Garcia home to cut make it 4-3.
“Our offense from the first to the ninth that can do harm. And the beauty is that they are not trying to do a lot. And Tatis Junior created that today,” Dominican manager Albert Pujols said. “But when you have the lineups such as the one we have, this is going to be a problem for the rival. This is what happened today. This is what they have been doing throughout the tournament.”
After Austin Wells drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, Geraldo Perdomo singled to give the D.R. runners at first and second, and then Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his third homer of the tournament, a three-run blast that gave the Dominican Republic a 7-3 lead.
They didn’t score again, with the Venezuela bullpen allowing five hits and two walks over the final five innings.
“They scored two runs. We came back. They scored again. We came back, and they scored three runs after two outs,” said Venezuela maanger Omar Lopez. “So I talked to the bullpen, trying to stop the Dominican offense, and that happened. We had some chance because they were leading the game very early, and we were almost about to win in the ninth inning. So the guys never quit.”
Similarly, the Dominican Republic bullpen cruised from the fourth inning until the ninth, with four relievers allowing one hit and three walks over four scoreless innings until Abner Uribe took the mound to start the ninth. Uribe struggled to command his sinker, walking Jackson Chourio on four straight sinkers to start the inning. After getting ahead of Ronald Acuna Jr. 0-2 after getting a slider over for strike one and getting the speedy Atlanta Braves outfielder to foul off four straight sinkers, Acuna worked the count to 3-2 and then walked, and after missing with four sliders to Maikel Garcia, the bases were loaded and Pujols came out to send Uribe to the dugout.
Elvis Alvarado came on and induced a fly ball to left from Arraez, and Soto didn’t make a throw to the plate, allowing Chourio to score. Willyan Contreras followed with a ground ball back to Alvarado, and looking to get Garcia at second, Alvarado attempted a throw, but the ball squirted into the outfield, and suddenly it was 7-5 with the go-ahead run at the plate in Salvy Perez.
But the hope Venezuela fans had was dashed, with Perez grounding into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game and give the Vinotintos a much tougher path to both the semifinals and the 2028 Summer Olympics. The two teams from the Americas that go the deepest in this WBC, with the exception of the United States, will earn berths in the Los Angeles games, and to do so, Venezuela will now likely need to beat Japan in the quarterfinal and likely win a semifinal game as well.
Photo: Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
