MIAMI — Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero and Austin Wells homered as the Dominican Republic routed the Netherlands 12-1 in seven innings Sunday to remain unbeaten in Group D play at the World Baseball Classic.
The game ended under the mercy rule when Soto’s two-run blast in the bottom of the seventh provided a double-digit advantage for the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic has outscored its opponents 24-4 through two games at loanDepot Park.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte had three walks each for the Dominicans. Starter Luis Severino allowed one run and three hits while striking out five over four innings.
The Dominicans broke it open with a six-run fifth. Caminero hit a three-run homer and Wells added a two-run blast. Marte’s sacrifice fly made it 10-1.
Caminero’s second homer of the tournament had an exit velocity of 115.8 mph.
The Dominican Republic struck quickly with a two-run first against Arij Fransen, who took the loss. Guerrero hit an RBI single and Marte scored from third on a throwing error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Didi Gregorius narrowed the deficit for the Netherlands (1-2) with his solo homer in the second before Guerrero’s two-run drive in the third made it 4-1.
Panama 4, Canada 3: In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rubén Tejada drove in two runs with a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning, sending Panama to its first victory in Pool A.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. had three hits for Panama, including an RBI single. Luis Castillo also had a run-scoring single, and Miguel Cienfuegos pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings in relief for the rain-delayed win.
Panama opened WBC play with tough losses against Cuba on Friday and Puerto Rico on Saturday. Panama faces winless Colombia in its last group game on Monday.
Abraham Toro hit an RBI double for Canada, which dropped to 1-1. Jameson Taillon pitched 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
Helped by errors on first baseman Josh Naylor and losing pitcher James Paxton, Panama scored three unearned runs in the sixth.
With two down and the bases loaded, Tejada hit a soft liner up the middle. Canada shortstop Otto Lopez got to the ball behind the bag, but was unable to make a play. Jose Ramos and Christian Bethancourt scored to give Panama a 3-2 lead.
The speedy Bradfield followed with a bunt single to second, driving in Miguel Amaya.
Canada got one back on Owen Caissie’s RBI double in the eighth, but Humberto Mejía fanned pinch-hitter Tyler Black for the final out of the inning.
Following a rain delay, Dario Agrazal struck out two in a scoreless ninth for the save.
Mexico 16, Brazil 0 (6 innings): In Houston, Alejandro Kirk, Jarren Duran, Alek Thomas and Julian Ornelas all homered as Mexico rolled in another game halted early because of the mercy rule.
Mexico also beat Britain 8-2 in its opener Friday and will meet the United States (2-0) on Monday night.
Mexico led by five before a huge fourth inning. Duran drove in two runs with a double before Kirk’s three-run homer made it 10-0.
Kirk had an RBI double in Mexico’s four-run first. Duran’s homer on Eric Pardinho’s first pitch of the second made it 5-0.
Mexico manager Benji Gil pinch-hit for Duran and Kirk along with fellow major leaguers Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda in the fifth with his team up 11-0.
But that didn’t stop Mexico from scoring. The team added a run in the fifth before a two-run shot by Thomas pushed the lead to 14-0 with one out in the sixth.
A two-run homer by Ornelas made it 16-0 with two outs to end it and start a huge celebration by the pro-Mexico crowd.
Mexico starter Taijuan Walker struck out three and walked two in 3 1/3 innings. Brazil didn’t get a hit until Gabriel Maciel singled off Roel Ramírez with two outs in the fifth.
In the WBC for just the second time and first since 2013, Brazil (0-3) was eliminated from advancing after losing to the U.S. and Italy. The team is 0-6 all-time in the tournament after losing to Japan, Cuba and China in 2013.
Brazil will wrap up pool play Monday against Britain, which also was eliminated Sunday.
Cuba 7, Colombia 4: In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ariel Martinez and Erisbel Arruebarrena homered in a four-run first inning, helping Cuba improve to 2-0 in Group A.
Yiddi Cappe added a big two-run triple in the sixth. Yoelkis Guibert had two of Cuba’s eight hits, and Denny Larrondo pitched two innings for the win.
Cuba next plays Puerto Rico on Monday night.
Tito Polo drove in two runs for winless Colombia, which is 2-for-28 with runners in scoring position — with 29 runners left on base — over three games heading into Monday’s matchup vs. Panama. Gio Urshela had a run-scoring single.
Martinez hit a three-run shot to right on a 2-1 fastball from Luis Patiño. Roel Santos walked and Yoan Moncada was hit by a pitch before Martinez’s opposite-field drive. Arruebarrena made it 4-1 with a one-out solo shot, chasing Patiño.
Raidel Martinez handled the ninth for his second save for Cuba.
Italy 7, Britain 4: In Houston, Andrew Fischer homered and drove in two runs, and J.J. D’Orazio also went deep to lead Italy over Britain 7-4 in Pool B play.
Italy improved to 2-0, while Britain was eliminated after falling to 0-3.
Fischer cut the lead to 2-1 when he opened the third inning with a home run for Italy. D’Orazio followed with his home run to right center field to tie it.
Tied 2-2 in the fourth, Zach Dezenzo doubled and scored on a two-out RBI single by Fischer. D’Orazio reached on an error before an RBI double by Miles Mastrobuoni and a run-scoring single by Dante Nori pushed the lead to 5-2.
Dezenzo walked with one out in the fifth and scored on a triple by Sam Antonacci. A throwing error by Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the play allowed Antonacci to score to put Italy up 7-2.
Israel 5, Nicaragua 0: In Miami, Noah Mendlinger had three hits and an RBI as Israel improved to 1-1 in Pool D.
Dean Kremer threw 4 1/3 innings in his start for Israel, allowing two hits and striking out four.
Nicaragua dropped to 0-3 and became the first team in the pool to be eliminated. The Nicaraguans remain winless in tournament history after they went 0-4 in their debut in 2023.
Zach Levenson’s two-run single and RBI singles from Cole Carrigg and Harrison Bader in the fifth made it 5-0.
Four Israel relievers followed Kremer and kept Nicaragua hitless the rest of the way. Tommy Kahnle closed with a perfect ninth.
Mendlinger gave Israel an early advantage with his RBI single in the second.
Mark Vientos singled and Omar Mendoza walked against Kremer to start the fifth. Kremer then ended his 63-pitch outing by striking out Juan Montes.
Josh Mallitz relieved Kremer and, after walking Melvin Novoa, retired Freddy Zamora on a double-play grounder.
Nicaragua starter Carlos Rodriguez gave up one run and four hits in four innings.
