Albies’ walk-off leads Netherlands to World Baseball Classic win

Ozzie Albies hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Netherlands over Nicaragua on Saturday in Miami.

The Netherlands began its two-out rally on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single against reliever Angel Obando. Xander Bogaerts doubled, advancing Rafaela to third before Albies hit Obando’s first pitch over the wall in right.

The Netherlands improved to 1-1 in Group D. Nicaragua dropped to 0-2.

Jeter Downs hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth to put Nicaragua ahead 3-1. He drove a sinker from Netherlands reliever Lars Huijer over the left-center wall. Huijer threw two innings of relief for the win.

The Netherlands stranded 14 baserunners and was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position before Albies’ homer.

Rafaela, Bogaerts and Druw Jones each had two hits for the Netherlands.

Nicaragua starter Erasmo Ramirez plunked Albies with the bases loaded in the third, giving the Netherlands a 1-0 lead. Ramirez allowed one run and five hits over five innings, while Netherlands starter Jaitoine Kelly threw two scoreless innings.

OZZIE ALBIES!

A #WORLDBASEBALLCLASSIC WALK-OFF HOMER FOR TEAM NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/T2HRyL233M

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 7, 2026

Ohtani homers again as Japan beats South Korea

Shohei Ohtani homered for the second straight day, Seiya Suzuki went deep twice and defending champion Japan beat South Korea 8-6 in Tokyo and improved to 2-0 at the World Baseball Classic.

Suzuki drove in four runs, and Masataka Yoshida homered and had three RBIs for the Samurai Warriors, who overcame a 3-0, first-inning deficit.

A day after hitting a grand slam in a 13-0 win over Taiwan, Ohtani hit a tying home run on a hanging curve from Young Pyo Ko in the third.

Suzuki hit a two-run homer in the second. Two batters after Ohtani’s drive, Suzuki chased Ko by homering for a 4-3 lead. Yoshida homered on reliever Byeong Hyeon Jo’s second pitch.

Hyeseong Kim’s two-run homer against Hiromi Ito tied the score in the fourth for South Korea (1-1).

Suzuki put Japan ahead for good at 6-5 when he drew a bases-loaded walk from Young Kyu Kim in a three-run seventh, which included Yoshida’s two-run single.

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Ju Won Kim cut South Korea’s deficit with an RBI single off Yuki Matsumoto in the eighth before Hyeseong Kim stranded the bases loaded when he struck out against Yuki Matsumoto.

Winning pitcher Atsuki Taneichi struck out the side in the seventh, and Taisei Ota got three straight outs on seven pitches for the save.

Japan and Australia are 2-0 in Group C and meet Sunday as the favorites to advance to the quarterfinals.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was at the game, a day after actor Timothée Chalamet and rapper Bad Bunny attended.

Puerto Rico rallies to beat Panama 4-3 on Darell Hernaiz’s 10th-inning homer

Darell Hernaiz homered off Severino González to cap a two-run 10th inning as Puerto Rico twice rallied late at San Juan and improved to 2-0 in Group A.

Willi Castro tied the score at 2 on a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk against Alberto Baldonado with two outs in the ninth.

Jose Caballero hit a go-ahead single off winner Jose Espada in the top of the 10th, then was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Carlos Cortes for the final out of the inning when he tried to score on Leonardo Bernal’s single.

Puerto Rico tied the score at 3 in the bottom of the 10th, when Cortes grounded into a run-scoring double play. Hernaiz drove a fastball to left, dropping Panama to 0-2.

Panama had gone ahead 2-0 in the fifth on RBI doubles by Christian Bethancourt and Luis Castillo.

Nolan Arenado trimmed the lead with a bases-loaded sixth-inning sacrifice fly against Javy Guerra. After playing for the U.S. in 2017 and 2023, Arenado switched this time to Puerto Rico, where his mother is from.

Naylor brothers’ defense, Caissie’s 2-run HR lead Canada over Colombia

A run-saving defensive play by brothers Josh and Bo Naylor boosted Canada in the first inning in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Owen Caissie hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the second off emergency starter Austin Bergner as Canada downed Colombia 8-2.

Julio Teheran was a last-minute scratch as Colombia’s starting pitcher, leaving 35-year-old Bergner, who last pitched in MLB in 2024, to take on the short-notice start after Teheran felt right shoulder impingement while warming up.

Canada won its opener while Colombia dropped to 0-2 in Group A.

Michael Arroyo led off the game with a single off Michael Soroka, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Reynaldo Rodriguez grounded to first baseman Josh Naylor, who threw to brother Bo at the plate for the tag.

That was one of four Colombia outs on the bases. Rodriguez and Jesus Marriaga were caught stealing by Bo Naylor, and Daniel Vellojin was thrown out trying to reach second on a dropped fly ball in the ninth inning.

Arroyo cut Colombia’s deficit with an RBI single in the third off Soroka, who allowed four hits over three innings for the win. Abraham Toro restored a two-run lead with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half from Emerson Martinez.

Josh Naylor had a run-scoring single in the seventh that drove in Denzel Clarke, Naylor’s cousin, after Marriaga dropped Clarke’s fly to right for an error.

Harold Ramirez had an RBI double in the eighth. With two on and two outs, Gio Urshela swung and missed at three straight sliders from Eric Cerantola.

Toro had an RBI triple in a four-run bottom half and scored on Bo Naylor’s single.

Phillippe Aumont, who last pitched in the major leagues in 2015, struck out Tito Polo for the final out.

Arraez powers Venezuela past Israel 11-3 with two homers and two doubles

Luis Arraez homered twice, doubled twice and drove in five runs as Venezuela beat Israel 11-3 in Miami.

Arraez became the first player with a pair of multihomer games in his WBC career.

Eugenio Suarez also went deep, and Ezequiel Tovar had three hits for Venezuela, which improved to 2-0 in Pool D. It was Israel’s first game of the tournament.

Venezuela starter Enmanuel De Jesus struck out eight in five innings of one-run ball.

Suárez’s two-run homer chased Israel starter Ben Simon and capped a four-run first. Arraez hit an RBI double and scored on Salvador Perez’s single.

De Jesus retired his first 14 batters until Garrett Stubbs tripled with two outs in the fifth. Matt Mervis followed with an RBI infield single to put Israel on the board.

Venezuela regained its four-run lead in the fifth when Arraez hit a solo homer off reliever Jordan Geber.

Israel narrowed the deficit again in the sixth on RJ Schreck’s solo homer against reliever Ricardo Sánchez before Venezuela broke it open with five runs in the bottom half. Maikel Garcia hit a two-run single, and Arraez followed with a three-run homer that made it 10-2.

Arraez, a three-time batting champion, has five hits and seven RBIs over the first two games.

Harrison Bader hit a solo homer for Israel in the ninth.

Fairchild’s grand slam powers Taiwan over Czechs 14-0

Stuart Fairchild, whose mother is from Taiwan, hit a second-inning grand slam off Jan Novak for a quick six-run lead.

Taiwan set a WBC record with seven steals and improved to 1-2 in a game cut to seven innings by a mercy rule. The slam was the third of the tournament, one shy of the WBC record.

The Czechs dropped to 0-3 in their second WBC and are 1-6 in two tournaments, with a win over China in 2023.

Taiwan went ahead in the first on a throwing error by catcher Martin Cervenka on a double steal, and an RBI single by Yu Chang, who had three hits and four RBIs.

Winner Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang struck out four in 2⅔ innings. Novak took the loss, allowing six runs, five hits and three walks in 2⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.