Dominican Republic vs Nicaragua summary: scores, stats and highlights | 2023 World Baseball Classic
Dominican Republic 6-1 Nicaragua
Dominican Republic show their class in thorough win
It is about survival for the Dominican Republic. They were widely picked to win the tournament, before injury reshaped their lineup and Venezuela handed them a stunning loss in game one. They took care of business here against a Nicaraguan side who were in over their heads.
On Tuesday night they will need to repeat the performance against Israel, which will lead inevitably to a do-or-die game against Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
Nicaragua had a few bright moments, but they were not competitive for most of the game. Particularly with the bats, they need to work on discipline and patience to accompany their natural talent.
For the Dominicans, the story was precisely the reverse. They showed poise and experience throughout and will need to lean on this as they move forward. If they can get out of the group, then you have to feel that they will grow into the competition.
That is going to be it from us here at Diario AS USA. Keep in touch with all of the World Baseball Classic news and live commentary with us here. Thank you for joining us today and we will see you later, when we bring you the USA vs Canada at 10 p.m. ET.
The highlight for Nicaragua was the glove of Juan Montes in center field, the diving catches of Norlando Valle and the amazing pitching of the young Duque Hebbert.
The top performers were:
Juan Soto who went 2 for 4, with a home run, a walk, an RBI, and scoring three runs.
Cristian Javier threw four complete innings, giving up 2 hits and no runs, striking out four batters.
Manny Machado went 2 for 5 with a home run, a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
That was a much needed win for the Dominican Republic, to get one in the win column and move on to prepare for Puerto Rico.
Norlando Valle hits a big chopper to second, Wander Franco charges it and makes the throw to first to end the game. Dominican Republic 6, Nicaragua 1
Norlando Valle gets a splitter, a cutter, and four seamer, fouling them all back. He is in a hole now 0-2
Rodolfo Bone comes to the plate and can't hold off on the check swing for strike three. Nicaragua is down to its final out.
Bottom 9th
This is Nicaragua's last chance to make a mark in this game. Dwight Britton leads off and watches three strikes for out number one.
The payoff is a great low changeup for the swinging strike three. What an inning by Duque Hebbert. Somebody sign this kid! He has never pitched in affiliated baseball, and he just struck out Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez, and Rafael Devers. What an outing!
Rafael Devers comes to the plate and watches as the balls just miss the corners before fouling a few off. Full count.
Machado racks the third one to deep left, on the warning track and Dwight Britton misses it. That should have been caught. But they chalk it up as a double for Machado.
Manny Machado now at the plate and Duque Hebbert has thrown him some great pitches. He is ahead at 0-2.
Julio Rodriguez comes on and gets a few to foul off before fighting back to 2-2. A nasty curve gets him swinging for strike three.
Soto gets three strikes and goes down swinging. One down.
Top 9th
Duque Hebbert comes on to pitch, replacing Joaquin Acuna. Elian Miranda will remain in the game at first. Juan Soto to lead off for the DR
That base running error really cost Nicaragua their best opportunity of the day.
He faces Ivan Marin, who swings at the first pitch, AGAIN, and pokes one to third for Manny Machado. The throw to first gets the last out.
The Dominican Republic make a pitching change, bringing Luis Garcia on to get out of the inning.
Miranda hits the first pitch through on the ground to left field. They score one, but Alegria runs through the stop sign at third and tries for home. Juan Soto has a cannon for an arm and guns him down easily at the plate. Talk about a rally killer! Instead of bases loaded one out, you now have first and second with two outs. That was incredibly stupid base running.
Nicaragua pinch-hits Elian Miranda for Cheslor Cuthbert. He has some pop and they are looking for the grand slam.
Valdez's payoff misses and Perez walks. The bases are now loaded with one out.
Milkar Perez shows uncommon patience for a Nicaraguan and works the count full.
Benjamin Alegria swings and pokes the first pitch over the first base bag. It goes into the right field corner for a double. Steven Leyton advances to 3rd.
Steven Leyton swings at hits a little dribbler up the third base line. A swinging bunt, pitcher Cesar Valdez lets it go, hoping that it rolls foul. It does not, so Leyton gets a hit.
Bottom 8th
Juan Montes will lead off and swings through three pitches, the last one a terrible ball, to notch up out number one.
Francisco Mejia hits a long fly ball into the gap in right center. Norlando Valle gets on his horse and makes the sliding catch! That is his second one like that in this game. Jeimer Candelario doesn't realize that he has caught it and is rounding third. Valle throws it to first for the double play to end the inning.
Jeimer Candelario one to second and he goes 4-6 to shortstop Steven Leyton, whose throw to first hits Adames in the back. So they only get one and Candelario is safe at first.
He hits a dribbler to short. It is deep and he is fast, beating out the throw to first.
Top 8th
Adames will lead off for the DR in the eighth.
That inning was the perfect example of everything wrong with Nicaragua. If they would have just been more intelligent at the bat, showing more patience and not chasing garbage, they could have put pressure on the DR. Instead, they are dealt with harmlessly.
Unforgiveable.
Norlando Valle swats one to first base. Jeimer Candelario fields it and steps on the bag to end the inning.
Rodolfo Bone comes on and takes a ball before swinging at another ball. He makes contact with the third one, flying it out to Juan Soto in left to make two away.
Dwight Britton comes up and swings at three terrible balls for a quick out. This is unforgiveable! The pitcher hasn't thrown a strike yet, walking two batters and you come up swinging? That is terrible! Britton needs to be called out on it and if the coach isn't screaming in his ear right now then there is something dreadfully wrong.
Marin is patient, something that Nicaraguan batters have lacked today and works a full count walk. Two walks in a row gives Nicaragua men on first and second with no outs.
Cuthbert walks on five pitches. Should have been four but the umpire was generous on the 3-0 call. So Nicaragua have a lead off runner for Ivan Marin.
Bottom 7th
The Dominican Republic will make a shift as Teoscar Hernandez replaces right fielder Eloy Jimenez.
Cesar Valdez comes in to take over on the mound. Cheslor Cuthbert will lead off for Nicaragua.
Wander Franco stands in and pokes another one to Leyton at short. The throw to first ends the inning, but not before the DR add another run to their total. We head to the bottom of the seventh
Eloy Jimenez comes up and pops out to shortstop Steven Leyton.
Rafael Devers comes to the plate swinging and flies one out to left. Britton puts it away for out number one,
He has actually hit two balls further today but in this park, they were caught at the wall. This one was shifted a little to right allowing it to clear the wall.
Manny Machado leads off and hacks at the first pitch. It is deep to right center and it is gone! Three times he has knocked on that door and he finally gets one. A solo shot for Machado and the DR are now up 6-0.
Top 7th
In another defensive shift, Rodolfo Bone will come on to replace Melvin Novoa at catcher.
Milkar Perez fouls two off before dribbling one to second. That is an easy play for Wander Franco, and he makes the throw to first to end the inning. Nicaragua are not stressing the Dominican pitching at all, and that has been the story of the game.
Benjamin Alegria gets fed three fastballs and goes down swinging for the second out.
Leyton swings at the first pitch, grounding one to short as Willy Adames makes the throw to to first for the out.
Bottom 6th
Rafael Montero will come on to replace Diego Castillo on the mound for the DR. He will face Steven Leyton to lead off.
He will face Julio Rodriguez, who puts the third pitch into play, popping a little blooper to short. It is caught by Steven Leyton to end the inning. But the DR has adden another run to their total, we head into the bottom half of the inning Dominican Republic 5, Nicaragua 0
That was a bomb! Junior Tellez could only smile. He knew that he hung that curve and when you do that to Juan Soto, you get crushed like that.
That is going to be the end of Tellez's day, as Joaquin Acuna will be called on to take the mound for Nicaragua.
Juan Soto gets a one-strike hanging curveball and puts it into the second deck in right field. What a booming solo home run! The Dominican Republic are now up by five.
Francisco Mejia now takes a hack and sends one out to right field, taken down by Norlando Valle for out number two.
Jeimer Candelario leads off for the DR and hits one to second. Marin makes the throw to first for the out.
Top 6th
Nicaragua comes out with few defensive change-arounds. Norlando Valle goes from left to right as Dwight Britton replaces Isaac Benard, batting 6th and playing left field.
Ivan Marin has come on to replace Alex Blandino at second base.
Montes works the count full and gets called out on a borderline called three strike to end the inning.
Curled on the ends like Rollie Fingers. Outstanding
He has had a wonderful glove today and it must be said that his mustache is GLORIOUS!
Juan Montes comes to the plate
Valle hits a shot to first, fielded deep on the dirt by Jeimer Candelario. The flip to Castillo covering the bag gets the second out.
Norlando Valle will now stand in.
Melvin Novoa leads off for Nicaragua and skies one out to center. Julio Rodriguez camps out under it and puts it away for out number one.
Bottom 5th
The Dominican Republic will make the pitching change and Diego Castillo gets the nod to replace Cristian Javier.
Willy Adames comes to the plate and chases a great breaking pitch to strike out swinging. That ends the inning.
He crushes a long blast to center and yet again, Juan Montes makes a marvellous catch as he hits the wall. That is the third great catch at the wall Montes has made today. Two away
One on and one out for Wander Franco.
Jimenez comes to the plate and hits one back up the middle for a single to center.
Defensively they have been solid, so I am referring more to their bats, as Devers grounds one sharply to short. The throw gets Devers out at first and we have one away.
Baseball is all about levels, and it is clear that the Dominicans are a clear level above the Nicaraguans. But at some point Nicaragua will have to find some way to do something to trouble the DR.
Top 5th
Rafael Devers will lead off for the DR and get his first look at Tellez.
Isaac Benard now stands in and goes down swinging on three pitches. Terrible.
Alex Blandino now comes to the plate and goes after the first pitch. They should show more patience with the bat, make Javier throw more pitches. He flies out to center field for the second out. This start for Javier has been stress free. They have not pushed him at all.
Bottom 4th
Cheslor Cuthbert leads off for Nicaragua. He goes after the first pitch and flies out to center field. One down.
Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate and hits a shot to third base. Alegria can't quite get to it and it goes into left for a single. Candelario scores on the play and it is now 4-0 to the Dominican Republic.
Nicaragua will make a pitching change. Junior Tellez replaces Fidencio Flores.
Juan Soto comes to the plate now and is prowling, aggressive. He lines a laser beam to first base. Cuthbert nabs it and steps on the bag for a double play!
Franciso Mejia comes to the plate. Flores throws the first pitch in the dirt and Mejia goes down to get it. He slaps it into right, scoring Adames. Candelario goes to third. 3-0 now for the DR.
He pokes one into right field for a single. Adames rounds second and will pull up at third. So the DR have men on the corner with nobody out.
Jeimer Candelario comes to the plate.
Adames smacks one to left field for a leadoff single. The DR has had the leadoff runner on base in every inning.
Top 4th
Fidencio Flores replaces Dilmer Mejia on the mound for Nicaragua. He faces Willy Adames to lead off.
The third pitch is fouled back before he watches a called third strike to end the inning.
Milkar Perez stands in and gets two quick strikes.
Benjamin Alegria comes up and gets two quick strikes. The third pitch is sent back up the middle for a two-out single to center field.
Steven Leyton comes up swinging and pops out to second as Wander Franco hauls it in.
He gets into a hole and strikes out swinging.
Bottom 3rd
Montes will lead off for Nicaragua, and they need something to get started here.
He chops one to third and it is a foot race to the bag. Benjamin Alegria beats Rafael Devers to it to end the inning.
Wander Franco comes to the plate now
Jimenez lines one to center for a single and Soto scores on the play. It is now 2-0
Eloy Jimenez now comes to the plate with two on and two out here in the third. The catcher heads out to the mound to have a chat about this at bat.
The payoff pitch comes and is high for ball four.
He works the count full.
He will face Rafael Devers and try to get Nicaragua out of this inning.
JC Ramirez is at the end of the pitch count allowed, so Nicaragua will make the change. Dilmer Mejia will take over the pitching duties.
Manny Machado comes up first pitch swinging and blasts one to center field. Juan Montes tracks it, leaps and comes down with it! Two great nabs in a row! That was hit 390 feet and Montes makes it two away.
Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate and hits a bomb into the foul corner in deep left. Juan Soto was running on the pitch. Norlando Valle makes a sliding catch! What a play! Soto will have to turn on the afterburner to get back to first. One down.
Soto draws the leadoff walk. He is on base for the second straight time.
Top 3rd
Juan Soto will lead off for the DR
Javier has thrown 29 pitches to Ramirez's 48. The Nicaraguans need to work these counts a little deeper. Make the pitcher work. Of course, the DR has a serious advantage in that department, but with the tournament's strict pitch count rules, a small team needs to use guerilla tactics.
He flies one into shallow left for Juan Soto. That will do it for the second.
Norlando Valle will try his luck now for Nicaragua.
He pops a soft one to right field for the easy putout. Two down, just that quickly
Three quick strikes and he sits down. One away. Melvin Novoa will stand in and see what he can make of Javier.
Bottom 2nd
Isaac Benard will lead off for Nicaragua
Francisco Mejía hits a roller to first base. The flip to Ramirez is in time to end the inning, so the opening walk and stolen base end up not coming back to haunt them and it stays a one run game.
The count runs full and Jeimer Candelario takes a big cut at a great breaking ball to strike out swinging. Two down now.
Candelario now comes to the plate.
On the 11th pitch, he flies a deep one out to center. Juan Montes brings it down for the first out but Wander Franco tags up and moves to to 3rd.
Adames works a deep count, seeing nine pitches to run it full.
Franco takes off and the throw not in time. He stole that base off the pitcher, with Ramirez's slow delivery process. The DR now have a runner in scoring position with nobody out.
On eight pitches, he draws the walk. So for the second inning in a row, the DR start off with a base runner and nobody out. Willy Adames comes to the plate.
Top 2nd
Wander Franco will lead off for the Dominican.
Blandino blasts one to center but it is not far enough and Julio Rodriguez camps out under for the final out. In the end no damage done and we head to the second inning with the DR 1, Nicaragua 0
Alex Blandino comes to the plate to try and see if he can push those runners around the bases.
Cuthbert fouls a few back and is in a hole. Javier pitches around the zone and the count runs to 2-2. A low fastball is popped to right field for Jimenez. He makes the easy catch and that is two down.
MIlkar Perez comes up first pitch swinging and bloops one just behind Manny Machado at third for a soft single. Leyton moves to second as Cheslor Cuthbert stands in.
Alegria hangs one up to center field for Julio Rodriguez. He hauls it in and we have one out.
So Leyton is on first base with nobody out as Benjamin Alegria comes to the dish.
He runs the count full and comes with the payoff pitch up high again. He walked him!
Javier goes right back to it with more high heat. Just missing for ball two.
Leyton gets nothing but high heat, and gets in a hole quickly. A ball misses and it is 1-2
Bottom 1st
Cristian Javier takes the mound for the DR and will face Brandon Leyton to start us off.
JC Ramirez has thrown 25 pitches in the first inning.
He pops the next pitch to shallow left center and the short stop makes the catch to end the inning. Whew! That was painful.
Eloy Jiminez comes to the plate and pops one foul. There is confusion as the catcher calls the third baseman off, but is out of position to make the play. In the end the ball falls harmlessly to the ground. That was the third baseman's ball all the way. Defensive errors are killing Nicaragua.
This is the story of the tournament for Nicaragua. Defensive mistakes are killing them.
He slaps one to the opposite field and Valle mis-fields it! It goes to the wall for a double and Juan Soto scores on the play!
A low slider is chopped foul so we now go 2-2
Rafael Devers comes to the plate and takes a couple of balls. One called strike and the count is 2-1
He drives the 11th pitch to the deepest part of the park. Inches in front of the wall in center, and Juan Montes jumps up and nabs it. A very long out. Two away.
Reset. Regroup. Do it again.
The payoff is ripped foul again. This is a workout! The tenth pitch of the series is fouled back.
The count runs full and Machado slaps one into the upper deck. A huge foul ball, so we'll do it again.
A long foul ball is followed up by a chop foul and the count is 2-2.
Manny Machado stands in and gets a rising four seamer running in for a ball. Next pitch is the same. 2-0
The second pitch jams him and he knuckles a little blooper to first. Cuthbert makes the play and we have one away.
Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate and takes a strike.
He digs in and lines one out to center for a single. So Soto gets on to get things going for the DR.
Soto swings at the first pitch and skies one behind first, JUUUUUSSTTT out of bounds. Boy he got lucky on that.
Top 1st
We get underway as JC Ramirez takes the mound for Nicaragua. He will face Juan Soto as the leadoff batter.
Nicaragua lineup
Leyton
Alegria
Perez, Mil
Cuthbert
Blandino
Benard
Novoa
Valle
Montes
Dominican Republic lineup
Soto, J
Rodríguez, Ju
Machado, M
Devers
Jiménez, E
Franco
Adames
Candelario
Mejía, F
The teams are on the field and warming up and it is a glorious morning in Miami. We are just minutes away from gametime!
Starting pitchers
Getting the start for the Dominican Republic will be Cristian Javier. The right handed ace plays his club ball for the Houston Astros and finished last season with a 2.54 ERA and 194 strikeouts.
Across the diamond, Nicaragua will tap Juan Carlos Ramírez, who plays for the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League, where the right hander has a career 2.61 ERA.
The Dominican Republic might be giants in the game, and they certainly have the best pitching rotation and bullpen in the competition, but several big players pulling out at the last minute due to injury has dropped them from being the heavy favorites to win it all down to an outside shot.
And then came Venezuela, who not only beat the DR in game one, but comprehensively shut them down, stymieing their bats and holding them to only one run.
A much-needed day off yesterday would have offered the Dominicans a chance to regroup and recompose themselves, to try and see if they can get their campaign back on track.
Beating Brazil in the qualifiers last year opened the WBC door for Nicaragua but baseball is all about levels and this competition has already shown them that they are now playing with the toughest teams in the world.
A 9-1 loss to Puerto Rico in the opener was followed up with a 3-1 defeat to Israel in a game that the Nicaraguans felt that they had a chance to win. Things don’t get any easier here as they come up against a true giant in the Dominican Republic.
Welcome to the live commentary coverage of the Dominican Republic vs Nicaragua game here at Diario AS USA as the DR tries to right the ship after a humbling loss to Venezuela.