MIAMI—Sandy Alcantara found himself in an unfamiliar setting prior to his start on Wednesday night in Miami. While the Dominican Republic was set to face off against Venezuela in his home ballpark in Little Havana, Alcantara warmed up in the visiting bullpen at loanDepot park—something he had only done once before: during his start in the World Baseball Classic in 2023, which also came against Venezuela.

Despite an uneven outing from Alcantara, the Dominican Republic lineup did what it has done all tournament long—show off the “plátano power.” By the end of Wednesday night’s marquee pool play matchup, the Dominicans added four more home runs to their tally, bringing their tournament total to 13. The most home runs hit by a team in a single Classic is 14, set by Mexico in 2009, according to Sarah Langs. 

Several members of the Marlins organization were also in attendance to watch Miami’s ace take the mound. Manager Clayton McCullough was joined by players Esteury Ruiz, Eury Pérez, Xavier Edwards, Christopher Morel, Deyvison De Los Santos and Ronny Henriquez at loanDepot park for the matchup.

In front of a boisterous, sold-out crowd in Miami, the “visiting” Dominicans got off to an electric start in the top of the first inning. Outfielder Juan Soto launched a mammoth two-run shot, sending the DR fans into a frenzy. The home run was the first of two allowed by Venezuelan starter Eduardo Rodríguez.

Given early run support, Alcantara was unable to deliver a shutdown inning in the bottom half of the frame. Following a single by Maikel García and a walk to Luis Arraez, Willson Contreras delivered an RBI single to cut the Dominican lead in half.

As they have throughout the tournament, the Dominican lineup answered with more fireworks in the third inning. All-Star Ketel Marte crushed a 403-foot solo shot to restore the two-run lead. Later in the inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a two-run homer to give the DR a 4-1 advantage.

Alcantara ran into trouble during what would be his final inning of work. After issuing a leadoff walk to division rival Ronald Acuña Jr., the Dominican right-hander surrendered back-to-back doubles, allowing two more runs to score for Venezuela.

Alcantara’s final line: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO on 44 pitches (28 strikes)—a stat line strikingly similar to his lone previous WBC start on March 11, 2023.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” Dominican manager Albert Pujols said postgame. “I think the early run support let him breathe a little bit, but he unfortunately ran into a little bit of trouble in the third.”

 

The right-hander told reporters postgame that he plans to be available for his country in whichever way they may need him. 

“I’ll be available to start or relieve, you name it,” Alcantara said. “We are here for one cause: to represent our country, the Dominican Republic…I’m here.”

Fortunately for Miami’s ace, the Dominican offense continued to provide breathing room. In the top of the fourth inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. joined in on the fun, crushing his second homer of the tournament—a three-run shot that extended the DR lead to 7-3.

The score held until the ninth inning, when Venezuela made things interesting. Three consecutive walks issued by Abner Uribe brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Arraez, who lifted a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to three.

Moments later, Contreras chopped a ball toward new pitcher Elvis Alvarado, who misfired a throw into center field. The error cut the lead to 7-5 and brought the potential winning run to the plate with just one out.

However, Salvador Pérez grounded into a game-ending double play to seal the victory for the Dominican Republic.

The Dominicans finish atop Pool D and will face South Korea in the quarterfinals on Friday night. Venezuela, the runner-up in the group, will take on defending champion Japan on Saturday night.