The 2026 World Baseball Classic continues on Sunday, March 8, with Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic taking place in Miami at LoanDepot Park.
USA TODAY Sports is on the ground covering the WBC, bringing you behind the scenes with Team USA, Shohei Ohtani and baseball’s biggest global stars. Keep up with the latest scores and news all the way through the grand finale in Miami to decide the WBC championship. Sign up for our daily sports newsletter to get the biggest storylines straight to your inbox.
See the full tournament schedule here.
Here’s everything you need to tune into Sunday’s action.
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Juan Soto seals 12-1 Dominican rout with game-ending HR
It wasn’t a traditional walk-off, but Juan Soto and the Dominican Republic will take it.
Soto capped an offensive outburst with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the D.R. a 12-1 lead and trigger the WBC’s mercy rule in a win over the Netherlands.
Soto’s blast was one of four on the day for the Dominican team, which improved to 2-0 in pool play. Austin Wells, Junior Caminero and Valdimir Guerrero Jr. also went deep in the blowout.
Austin Wells gets in on the act; Dominican Republic leads 10-1
The Domincans added another run after the two homers when Ketel Marte scored on a sacrifice fly by Erik Gonzalez.
The Dutch are in danger of having the game end on a mercy rule. Play stops if a team leads by at least 15 runs after five innings or 10 runs after seven innings.
Another Junior does damage for the Dominican
We may be approaching blowout territory. Domincan Republic designated hitter Junior Caminero matched Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s RBI total with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays during the regular season, Caminero blasted a three-run homer to left to break open the Pool D game against the Netherlands and put his team up 7-1.
Caminero, who hit 45 home runs last season for the Rays, also went deep during the D.R.’s 12-3 win over Nicaragua on Friday.
Vlad Jr. strikes again as D.R. goes up 4-1
A hanging breaking ball from new pitcher Eric Mendez had no chance against the powerful bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the bottom of the third inning.
The Toronto Blue Jays slugger picked up his second and third RBIs of the game when he took Mendez deep down the left field line for a two-run home run that gave the Dominican Republic a 4-1 lead. Guerrero’s first home of the WBC plated Ketel Marte, who drew a leadoff walk that finished off Netherlands starter Arij Fransen.
Didi Gregorius homer cuts Dominican lead to 2-1
Eleven-year MLB veteran Didi Gregorius homered off former New York Yankees teammate Luis Severino in the top of the second inning as the Netherlands sliced the Dominican Republic’s lead in half in the top of the second inning.
Gregorius launched a 98 mph fastball from Severino 357 feet to right field, just clearing the glove of a leaping Fernando Tatis Jr. and banging off the outfield railing.
Gregorius originally signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2007 as an amateur free agent. He spent two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before going to the New York Yankees in a three-way trade after the 2014 season. He had his greatest success with the Yankees, earning MVP votes in 2017 and 2018, and playing in eight postseason series.
He spent the final three seasons of his MLB career in Philadelphia from 2020-2022.
Dominican Republic jumps ahead of Netherlands 2-0 in first
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. came through in the bottom of the first inning to get the Dominican squad off to a quick start.
After a pair of walks by Dutch starter Arij Fransen, Guerrero drilled a one-out rope into left field to score Fernando Tatis Jr. with the first run of the game.
The D.R. added another run when Netherlands shortstop Xander Bogaerts made a wild throw in an attempt to turn an inning-ending double play.
Starting pitchers for Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic will have a home field advantage in Miami − in addition to having one on the pitcher’s mound. Veteran major leaguer Luis Severino of the Athletics will start the game for the Dominicans. He’ll match up against 24-year-old former Reds prospect Arij Fransen. The Reds released Fransen at the end of the season and he’s since signed with Winnipeg of the independent American Association.
Severino is a two-time All-Star who went 8-11 with a 4.54 ERA last season for the A’s.
Fransen went 4-4 with a 6.34 ERA in 2025 at Class AA Chattanooga.
Dominican Republic lineup for today’s game vs. NED
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Ketel Marte, 2B
- Juan Soto, LF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Junior Caminero, DH
- Julio Rodriguez, CF
- Austin Wells, C
- Erik Gonzalez, SS
SP Luis Severino
Manager: Albert Pujols
Perdomo scratched from Dominican lineup with illness
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo will not start today’s game against the Dutch after coming down with an illness before the game.
In his place, recent roster addition Erik Gonzalez will start at short and bat ninth for the Dominican squad. Gonzalez has seven seasons of MLB experience but hasn’t played in the majors since 2022. He was just activated by the Dominican Republic after Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña suffered a broken finger during a game last week.
Netherlands lineup for today’s game vs. DR
- Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
- Druw Jones, RF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Ozzie Albies, 2B
- Didi Gregorius, 3B
- Hendrik Clementine, DH
- Juremi Profar, 1B
- Chadwick Tromp, C
- Ray-Patrick Didder, LF
SP Arij Fransen
Manager: Andruw Jones
How the 2026 World Baseball Classic works
The 20 teams are divided into four groups. They are:
- Pool A (San Juan): Puerto Rico , Panama , Cuba , Canada , Colombia
- Pool B (Houston): United States , Mexico , Italy , Great Britain , Brazil
- Pool C (Tokyo): Japan , South Korea , Australia , Czechia , Chinese Taipei
- Pool D (Miami): Venezuela , Netherlands , Dominican Republic , Israel , Nicaragua
Teams play one game each against the other four teams in their pool. The top two teams from each pool advance to the knockout rounds in Houston and Miami. Teams are re-seeded after the quarterfinals.
Teams that remain tied in the standings following round robin play will be seeded based on the following criteria:
- Head-to-head performance between the teams who are tied
- Fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games between the tied teams
- Fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games between the tied teams
- Highest batting average in games between the tied teams.
- Drawing of lots conducted by WBCI
Pool play games will occur from March 4 to March 11. Quarterfinals begin on March 13. The semifinals begin March 15.
The championship game is set for March 17 in Miami.
Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic: How to watch on Sunday
- Matchup: Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic
- Time: Noon ET
- Location: Miami (LoanDepot Park)
- TV: Fox
- Streaming: FOX One App
Stream the World Baseball Classic on Fubo
