The 2026 World Baseball Classic continues on Sunday, March 8, with Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic taking place in Miami at LoanDepot Park.
USA TODAY Sports is on the ground covering the WBC, bringing you behind the scenes with Team USA, Shohei Ohtani and baseball’s biggest global stars. Keep up with the latest scores and news all the way through the grand finale in Miami to decide the WBC championship. Sign up for our daily sports newsletter to get the biggest storylines straight to your inbox.
See the full tournament schedule here.
Here’s everything you need to tune into Sunday’s action.
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Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic: How to watch on Sunday
Matchup: Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic
Time: Noon ET
Location: Miami (LoanDepot Park)
TV: Fox
Streaming: FOX One App
Stream the World Baseball Classic on Fubo
Vlad Jr. strikes again as D.R. goes up 4-1
A hanging breaking ball from new pitcher Eric Mendez had no chance against the powerful bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the bottom of the third inning.
The Toronto Blue Jays slugger picked up his second and third RBIs of the game when he took Mendez deep down the left field line for a two-run home run that gave the Dominican Republic a 4-1 lead. Guerrero’s first home of the WBC plated Ketel Marte, who drew a leadoff walk that finished off Netherlands starter Arij Fransen.
Didi Gregorius homer cuts Dominican lead to 2-1
Eleven-year MLB veteran Didi Gregorius homered off former New York Yankees teammate Luis Severino in the top of the second inning as the Netherlands sliced the Dominican Republic’s lead in half in the top of the second inning.
Gregorius launched a 98 mph fastball from Severino 357 feet to right field, just clearing the glove of a leaping Fernando Tatis Jr. and banging off the outfield railing.
Gregorius originally signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2007 as an amateur free agent. He spent two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before going to the New York Yankees in a three-way trade after the 2014 season. He had his greatest success with the Yankees, earning MVP votes in 2017 and 2018, and playing in eight postseason series.
He spent the final three seasons of his MLB career in Philadelphia from 2020-2022.
Dominican Republic jumps ahead of Netherlands 2-0 in first
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. came through in the bottom of the first inning to get the Dominican squad off to a quick start.
After a pair of walks by Dutch starter Arij Fransen, Guerrero drilled a one-out rope into left field to score Fernando Tatis Jr. with the first run of the game.
The D.R. added another run when Netherlands shortstop Xander Bogaerts made a wild throw in an attempt to turn an inning-ending double play.
Starting pitchers for Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic will have a home field advantage in Miami − in addition to having one on the pitcher’s mound. Veteran major leaguer Luis Severino of the Athletics will start the game for the Dominicans. He’ll match up against 24-year-old former Reds prospect Arij Fransen. The Reds released Fransen at the end of the season and he’s since signed with Winnipeg of the independent American Association.
Severino is a two-time All-Star who went 8-11 with a 4.54 ERA last season for the A’s.
Fransen went 4-4 with a 6.34 ERA in 2025 at Class AA Chattanooga.
Dominican Republic lineup for today’s game vs. NED
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Ketel Marte, 2B
Juan Soto, LF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
Manny Machado, 3B
Junior Caminero, DH
Julio Rodriguez, CF
Austin Wells, C
Erik Gonzalez, SS
SP Luis Severino
Manager: Albert Pujols
Perdomo scratched from Dominican lineup with illness
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo will not start today’s game against the Dutch after coming down with an illness before the game.
In his place, recent roster addition Erik Gonzalez will start at short and bat ninth for the Dominican squad. Gonzalez has seven seasons of MLB experience but hasn’t played in the majors since 2022. He was just activated by the Dominican Republic after Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña suffered a broken finger during a game last week.
Netherlands lineup for today’s game vs. DR
Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
Druw Jones, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Ozzie Albies, 2B
Didi Gregorius, 3B
Hendrik Clementine, DH
Juremi Profar, 1B
Chadwick Tromp, C
Ray-Patrick Didder, LF
SP Arij Fransen
Manager: Andruw Jones
How the 2026 World Baseball Classic works
The 20 teams are divided into four groups. They are:
Pool A (San Juan): Puerto Rico , Panama , Cuba , Canada , Colombia
Pool B (Houston): United States , Mexico , Italy , Great Britain , Brazil
Pool C (Tokyo): Japan , South Korea , Australia , Czechia , Chinese Taipei
Pool D (Miami): Venezuela , Netherlands , Dominican Republic , Israel , Nicaragua
Teams play one game each against the other four teams in their pool. The top two teams from each pool advance to the knockout rounds in Houston and Miami. Teams are re-seeded after the quarterfinals.
Teams that remain tied in the standings following round robin play will be seeded based on the following criteria:
Head-to-head performance between the teams who are tied
Fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games between the tied teams
Fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games between the tied teams
Highest batting average in games between the tied teams.
Drawing of lots conducted by WBCI
Pool play games will occur from March 4 to March 11. Quarterfinals begin on March 13. The semifinals begin March 15.
The championship game is set for March 17 in Miami.