Heading into the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the Dominican Republic was on a short list of favorites. One game in and the mighty Dominican team is in a tough spot.
The Dominican Republic opened its WBC on Saturday with a Pool D game against Venezuela.
Venezuela handled the Dominican team, coming away with a 5-1 upset victory.
Venezuela gets its first-ever win over the Dominican Republic in the #WorldBaseballClassic! ⚾️🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/z7qNRrTUQe
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 12, 2023
While the loss is an upset, Venezuela beating the Dominican Republic is not shocking. The Venezuelan team is loaded in its own right, featuring stars like José Altuve and Ronald Acuña Jr.
What’s shocking is that the Dominican team scored only one run, despite featuring some of the greatest hitters in the world.
Dominican Republic's lineup for tonight's huge game vs. Venezuela, per @Enrique_Rojas1:
1. Julio Rodríguez, CF
2. Juan Soto, LF
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Teoscar Hernández, RF
5. Rafael Devers, DH
6. Wander Franco, 2B
7. Jeremy Peña, SS
8. Jeimer Candelario, 1B
9. Gary Sánchez, C— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 11, 2023
What’s even more notable is that the Dominican Republic scored its first run of the game two hitters in. Julio Rodríguez led the game off with a single, then scored on an RBI double from Juan Soto. After that, which came on the seventh pitch of the game, the Dominican team was shut out and recorded only four more hits.
The result caught the attention of a lot of baseball fans.
wowowowwow Venezuela takes down the ridiculously stacked Dominican Republic 5-1 in their opening game of the WBC. That was intense.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 12, 2023
The Dominican Republic when they have to win an actual WBC game instead of the "is this the best team ever on paper?" competition pic.twitter.com/yYFlPVfsQv
— Max Mannis (@MaxMannis) March 12, 2023
PUT SOME RESPECT ON THEIR NAME 🇻🇪
Venezuela shuts down the Dominican Republic in Miami 😳 pic.twitter.com/vphneGHECn
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) March 12, 2023
What a win for Venezuela in the #WorldBaseballClassic !They've disappointed in almost every WBC and to beat the Dominican Republic soundly is quite a feate.
— Josh Timmers 🇺🇦 (@JoshFTimmers) March 12, 2023
Fortunately for the Dominican Republic, there is time to get things right. The top two teams in each pool will make it into the knockout stage and the Dominicans have games remaining against Puerto Rico, Israel and Nicaragua. If the Dominican team wins its remaining games, it’s almost certain to advance.
That said, Saturday night’s loss does give the Dominican Republic significantly less margin for error going forward.
