Junior Caminero's Two-Run Blast Pushes The Dominican Republic Past Nicaragua

Game two of the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool D play was an unexpected offensive shootout, which went in favor of the Dominican Republic, by a final score of 12-3, thanks to home runs from Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez.

Caminero, who is participating in his first World Baseball Classic, was in manager Albert Pujols' lineup, hitting sixth as the designated hitter. The 22-year old grounded out in his first at-bat of the game and then smacked a base hit. In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the game tied at three apiece, Caminero took pitcher Stiven Cruz deep to straightaway center, giving the Dominican Republic a 5-3 lead.

The Santo Domingo native is no stranger to playing in front of a crowd like the one he did on Friday in loanDepot park. He played in the Dominican Winter League for Escogido, where his home runs have gone viral.

"I think the best thing about Junior Caminero is that he's not afraid of these moments," said Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols following the game. "He loves the spotlight. He listens, he's willing to open up and get better and I think that when he figures it out, and gets better, heads up, because there's a lot of little things, especially in his swing that he can get better at. At 22, I think right now you don't touch it because he's doing what he's doing, putting up big numbers. Having the opportunity for me and the Dominican Republic, to be his manager is a privillage, and seeing the things that he was able to do there, I had no doubt in my mind that I had to put him on this roster knowing that he loves this spot and he was going to come huge for us. This is just a glimpse of the things that he is hopefully going to do in this tournament."

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the DR added one more run on a bases-loaded sac fly, driving in Tatis and extending the Dominican Republic's lead, 6-3.

Julio Rodriguez, who was hitting seventh in the lineup and playing center field, took Nicaragua pitcher Osman Gutierrez 393 feet to left field, extending the Dominican Republic's lead, 7-3. The ball left the bat at 105.6 mph.

For Rodriguez, loanDepot park is the site where he hit his first career homer, most notably, off Dominican Republic teammate Sandy Alcantara.

The third and final home run hit by the Dominican Republic was by Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder ONeil Cruz, who entered in a pinch-hit situation. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Cruz took Gutierrez 450 feet to the second deck in right field. The ball left the bat at 116.8 mph, and it marked the longest and hardest-hit home run in the last 2 WBCs (tracking history).

"I haven't seen a lineup like this in a long time. The Yankees in my era had lineups like this," said Nicaragua's manager Dusty Baker following the game.

Although Nicaragua, managed by Baker, is considered the worst team in a pool filled with titans, they shouldn't be taken lightly. In the top of the first inning, they wasted no time getting on the board thanks to an RBI single from Ismael Munguia off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez.

One thing that stood out about Nicaragua is the willingness to fight. In the ensuing inning, University of Miami product Freddy Zamora hit an RBI double that drove in Cristhian Sandoval, tying the game at two. Lead-off hitter Chase Dawson drove Zamora in on an RBI single, taking a 3-2 lead.

After surrendering another base hit, that would mark the end of the road for Sánchez, who finished his outing going 1.1 innings pitched, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. Additionally, Sánchez recorded the first four-strikeout inning in World Baseball Classic history (since 2006).

Although the final score of the game is what many will look at, Nicaragua really kept it close with the Dominican Republic, and at one point led.

"It was a good game for five innings, but the big bats that they have over there woke up, and the backend of our bullpen wasn't quite as strong as theirs," Baker said. "Everyone that they had coming out was throwing between 96-97 mph."

With the win, the Dominican Republic moves to 1-0 in the tournament and will have the day off on Saturday before playing host to the Netherlands on Sunday at noon. As for Nicaragua, they drop to 0-1 and will face the Netherlands on Saturday at noon.

Kevin Barral is on-site in Miami covering the World Baseball Classic for DiamondCentric.