MIAMI – Their team was three outs away from leaving the 2026 World Baseball Classic with an 0-4 record and a return ticket to the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, but it didn’t stop a group of well over 100 Nicaragua fans from dancing to the band and chanting as Nicaragua’s game against Venezuela and its run at the WBC ended at loanDepot Park Monday night.
They nearly beat the Netherlands, losing on the final pitch of the game when Ozzie Albies hit the first come-from-behind game-ending homer in WBC history. They were competitive with Israel, and in their finale, they held Venezuela to four runs and five hits in a 4-0 loss largely powered by Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr., who went 3-for-3 with a homer, a walk, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
Acuna drew a walk to lead off the game, and immediately created havoc on the basepaths, stealing second on the first pitch to Jackson Chourio and then advancing to theirs when the throw from Nicaragua catcher R Rivera went into the outfield. Chourio then got Acuna home with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center to give Venezuela a 1-0 lead.
In the third, Acuna hit a two-out solo homer to center, giving Venezuela a 2-0 lead with their first hit of the game.
They added another in the fifth on an RBI single from Acuna that scored William Contreras, and a sac fly in the sixth by Willyer Abreu scored Luis Arraez to make it 4-0.
Nicaragua, meanwhile, got effective pitching from starter Danilo Bermudez, who allowed two runs on only one hit – the solo homer by Acuna – walking one and striking out two over four innings. Duque Hebbert, who earned a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers during the 2023 WBC, and Bryan Torres each allowed one run on one hit in one inning of work, Stiven Cruz threw two scoreless innings and Carlos Teller, who announced his retirement from the national team before the game, threw a scoreless ninth.
Carlos Teller, who is 39 and one of the most veteran players in the WBC” in tears after he confirmed again that he is retiring from Nicaragua ???????? but we wanted to do it with a win ????????
— Fernando Rayo (@Rayo2Fer) March 9, 2026
They just weren’t able to scratch out runs against difficult opponents in Miami, getting shut out 5-0 by Israel and 4-0 by Venezuela, scoring just three runs against the Netherlands and three against the Dominican Republic.
“We just couldn’t get the timely hits. That’s what this game’s all about is driving in runs,” Baker said. “We had bases loaded a number of times. Just seems like it builds and builds and builds and then one time leads to another time. So we just need a couple times of success with the bases loaded.”
In total, Nicaragua was 5-for-22 with runners in scoring position and stranded 31 runners through the four games in Miami and 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Venezuela, advancing a runner to third just once in their last game and stranding four.
The game also marked what was likely the last game in uniform for Dusty Baker, who made his Major League debut as a player in 1968 with the Atlanta Braves and spent 19 seasons in MLB as a player and 26 seasons as a manager, where his 2,169 wins are good for eighth all-time.
A lifelong student of the game, Baker kept learning up until the end.
“I learned that there’s some international players that can play this game, like big-time international players,” Baker said before the game. “I’ve learned that the game is global now. I always knew it was global, but I didn’t have any idea to this effect.”
Baker, 76, began his MLB career as a teammate of Hank Aaron, was the co-creator of the high five with Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Glenn Burke, was a three-time National League manager of the year, won three pennants as a manager and led the Houston Astros to the a World Series title in 2022.
He sees good things ahead for baseball in the Central American nation.
“It takes time, it takes time to develop kids. … In Venezuelan and in Dominican Republic, they have academies. Major League Baseball has put academies in these places where they make the kids eat better, stronger, better instruction and it shows,” Baker said. “If you think you’re going to do it overnight, it’s tough. But it starts with the youth, starts with the kids and then… it ends with the instructors. Because you have some excellent instructors here, and excellent coaches here. I think it would behoove the country and the system to invest not only in the kids but in the coaches as well.”
He’ll leave the World Baseball Classic having managed his final game, like bound one day for Cooperstown as a manager, having enjoyed his time managing Nicaragua.
“I really hadn’t seen the love and the joy of the game of baseball from a fan’s perspective,” Baker said. “Because when I’m leaving in between games and the game’s over and there’s still 10,000 Dominicans out there partying or 5,000 Nicaraguenses, I’m like, ‘Dang, man, this is fun.'”
Fun indeed, Dusty.
Photo: Nicaragua manager Dusty Baker Jr. waves before a World Baseball Classic game against the Dominican Republic, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
