Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Junior Caminero stood out in the Dominican Republic’s 12-4 victory against the Detroit Tigers, in a friendly prior to the World Baseball Classic played at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium, in Santo Domingo.
Before the start of the match, Dominican merengue player Héctor Acosta ‘El Torito’ performed the Dominican national anthem, while relatives of the victims of the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub, which occurred on April 8, 2025, in which 235 people died, including the sister of the Dominican team manager, Nelson Cruz, performed the honorary pitch.
As announced before the two games against Detroit, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred presented a check for $125,000 to Cruz, as part of the funds raised that will be donated to the Red Cross of the Dominican Republic.
Already in the baseball game, Kevin McGonigle hit a home run on the first pitch of the game against Dominican starter Luis Severino.
McGonigle extended the Tigers’ lead in the second inning, when he punished Severino with a single to drive in Zach McKinstry and Thayron Liranzo.
The Dominicans scored three runs and tied the score at the end of that second inning, the first of them by a single to center field by Austin Wells, with which he drove in Machado.
The second came through a ground ball by Geraldo Perdomo, which allowed Caminero to score, and the third landed in the legs of Julio Rodríguez, who scored through a sacrifice fly by Ketel Marte.
McGonigle put the Tigers back in front by scoring in the fourth inning on Riley Greene’s fly ball.
The display of power from the Dominican bats was present at the close of that fourth inning, when after an RBI double by Fernando Tatis Jr., Soto disappeared the ball over the right field wall to produce two runs.
The bombardment continued and with two outs on the board, Machado sent the ball beyond the limits of left field, being followed by Caminero, who disappeared spherically over the fence between center and right fields, capping a five-run rally.
The Dominicans returned to the fray in the fifth, with RBI singles by Tatis Jr., Soto and Carlos Santana, who entered the game to replace Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
In the sixth, Jeremy Peña hit a triple to drive in Agustín Ramírez with the Dominicans’ 12th run in the game.
After Severino, Gregory Soto, Dennis Santana, Seranthony Domínguez, Carlos Estévez, Abner Uribe, Camilo Doval, Wandy Peralta, Huáscar Brazobán and Juan Mejía launched for the Dominican team.
The Dominicans are scheduled to face the Tigers again this Wednesday, in the second game of this two-game series, in which right-hander Brayan Bello will be starting.
This is how the World Baseball Classic is played
The largest national team baseball tournament, the World Classic, begins this Thursday with a sixth edition that brings together 20 teams for the second time, including Japan, the tournament’s top winner with three titles.
The championship, whose first edition was played 20 years ago, is held in the United States (Miami and Houston), Japan (Tokyo) and Puerto Rico (San Juan).
Japan, the last champion after beating the United States 3-2 in the 2023 final, has Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who decided to play only on offense as a designated hitter and will not take the mound.
“Samurai Japan” wants its fourth title, while the United States, absolute in 2017, will seek revenge and the Dominican Republic, champion in 2013, will try to forget its premature elimination in 2023 when it did not advance beyond the group stage.
It should be noted that the continent of America will have 11 representatives, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
The two best teams on the American continent, not including the United States already classified as host, will obtain a ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Australia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic will also compete in the World Baseball Classic.
The competition maintains the ’round robin’ format with 4 groups of 5 teams. The two best from each zone advance to the quarterfinals.
The ‘play ball’ is shouted this Thursday at the Tokyo Dome, where the group C matches will be played. Activity at the rest of the venues starts on Friday.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final will be played from March 13. The dispute for the title is scheduled for March 17 at the Miami Marlins’ loanDepot Park stadium.
This is how the groups will be:
– Group Awhich will play in San Juan, is made up of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Colombia and Panama.
This is seen as the most balanced of the tournament. Puerto Ricans have home field advantage and Cuba ranked fourth three years ago. Canada and Panama always give something to talk about and Colombia, in its third participation, has references such as José Quintana, Julio Teherán, Donovan Solano and Gio Urshela.
– In group Bbased in Houston, the United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil were installed.
The Stars and Stripes team is the favorite, although Mexico showed in 2023 that it can compete with anyone, as it finished in third place after losing to Japan in the semifinals. Italy always stands out and Brazil returns after more than a decade of absence.
– In group Cbased in Tokyo, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and the Czech Republic will compete.
At home, Japan seems to have no rival, South Korea and Taiwan will try not to be overshadowed and Australia will try to repeat the quarterfinals from three years ago.
– Group Dwhich will play in Miami, will feature the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua.
The Dominican ninth wants to leave the failure of 2023 in the past. Venezuela is a power but its doubt is the pitching; and Nicaragua longs to return to the elite with experienced American manager Dusty Baker.
(With additional reporting by Claudia Aguilar Ramírez, from EFE)
