Venezuela extended its winning streak in the VI edition of the World Baseball Classic by defeating Nicaragua 4-0 on Monday in its third appearance in the tournament, in a Group D game played in Miami (USA), which allowed it to seal its qualification to the quarterfinals.
The Venezuelan ninth team has a 3-0 record in the group stage, the same as the Dominican Republic, which they will face next Wednesday.
Venezuela advances to the quarterfinals
In Monday’s duel at IoanDepot Park, the outstanding performance came from Venezuelan Ronald Acuña Jr., who went 3-3 with a home run, 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.
His teammate Wilyer Abreu also stood out with a sacrifice fly that brought in the winning team’s fourth run.
Venezuela has already beaten Israel and soundly defeated the Netherlands in its past presentations in the VI edition of the World Baseball Classic.
For Nicaragua it has been the opposite, as they have suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the tournament after losing to Israel, the Dominican Republic and the Netherlands.
The historic triumph of the Dominicans
Monday’s day in Group D began with a stellar performance by Fernando Tatis Jr., who hit a grand slam to help the Dominican Republic defeat Israel 10-1 and advance to the quarterfinals.
The Quintana Roo team, led by Albert Pujols, won its third consecutive victory, assured its passage to the next phase and, in the process, shook hands with Venezuela, which also advanced without playing.
The Dominicans and Venezuelans will face each other on Wednesday in the main match to determine the top of Group D and their quarterfinal opponent, either South Korea or Japan.
Outfielder Tatis Jr., with two outs on the board, hit the bases loaded home run to left field in the second inning to score Carlos Santana, Oneil Cruz and Geraldo Perdomo to put his team up 5-0.
According to MLB data, Tatis Jr.’s homer, which punished a 78.7 mph change of speed from Israel’s left-handed starter Ryan Prager and came off his bat at 104.9 mph and traveled a distance of 400 feet, is the Dominican Republic’s first Grand Slam in the history of the World Baseball Classic.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Tatis Jr. then hit a two-run single.
Filed under: Venezuela advances to Quarterfinals
With information from EFE
