Ozzie Albies hit the first walk-off home run in World Baseball Classic history, securing a 4-3 victory for the Netherlands over Nicaragua in Pool D play at loanDepot park in Miami. The dramatic ninth-inning blast came after a lucky bounce kept the Dutch alive, turning a potential first WBC win for Nicaragua into a heartbreaking loss. The result leaves the Netherlands at 1-1 and Nicaragua at 0-2 in the tournament.
The game remained tight through seven innings, with both teams combining to strand 22 runners on base, including bases-loaded situations twice each. The Netherlands scored first in the third on Albies' bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, while Nicaragua tied it in the fifth via Cheslor Cuthbert's bases-loaded walk. Nicaragua starter Erasmo Ramirez pitched five strong innings, allowing one run, and Netherlands' Jaitoine Kelly, the youngest starter in WBC history at 18 years and 251 days, threw two scoreless frames.
In the eighth, Jeter Downs broke the 1-1 tie with a two-run home run off Lars Huijer, a 397-foot shot to left-center that gave Nicaragua a 3-1 lead and sparked dugout celebrations. Downs, who earlier had a premature celebration on a seventh-inning fly out that was caught, redeemed himself with a diving defensive play to end that frame. 'I blacked out,' Downs said of his homer. 'I learned my lesson... I definitely made sure the second one went before I started celebrating.'
The bottom of the ninth saw the Netherlands rally with two outs. Ceddanne Rafaela singled, and Xander Bogaerts' grounder to third hit the bag and ricocheted into left field for a double. Nicaragua manager Dusty Baker opted not to walk Albies intentionally. 'You don't put the winning run on base,' Baker said. Albies then crushed a first-pitch fastball from Angel Obando 411 feet over the right-center wall for a three-run homer. 'The moment I hit it... it hit the perfect spot on the bat,' Albies said. Bogaerts noted, 'It wasn't looking good for us... but we have experience. We proved it today.'
Baker called it 'a crushing defeat, not only for us but for the whole country of Nicaragua.' The Netherlands now face the Dominican Republic on Sunday and Israel on Tuesday, while Nicaragua's back is against the wall with two games left.
