Sports

Live updates for Dominican Republic vs. Israel at WBC

The 2026 World Baseball Classic continues on Monday, March 9 with Dominican Republic vs. Israel taking place in Miami at LoanDepot Park.

‘We haven’t achieved anything yet. Our goal is to win this tournament,’ Dominican manager Albert Pujols told reporters after his team’s win on Sunday. ‘When you get the trophy, then you can speak about the different matches and the emotions and stuff.

‘But so far, we have to face important teams, and our goal is to stay focused on winning and to obtain the victory for our country.’

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 Monday’s action.

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Dominican Republic vs. Israel: How to watch on Monday

  • Matchup: Dominican Republic vs. Israel
  • Time: Noon ET
  • Location: Miami (LoanDepot Park)
  • TV: FS1
  • Streaming: FOX One App

Stream the World Baseball Classic on Fubo

Israel gets on the board on Horwitz homer

Held without a baserunner for the first three innings, Israel finally got to Dominican Republic starter Brayan Bello in the fourth when DH Spencer Horwitz of the Pittsburgh Pirates clubbed a leadoff homer run to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Bello settled down by getting the next three batters in order. He’s thrown 46 pitches over four innings with seven strikeouts and just the one hit.

Oneil Cruz goes deep for 6-0 Dominican lead

It’s a nice luxury for Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols to be able to give some of his stars a day off and never have the offense seem to miss a beat. That was the case when Oneil Cruz got the start vs. Israel in place of regular center fielder Julio Rodriguez.

Cruz, who hits the ball as hard as anyone in the game, ripped a pitch from Israel’s Zach Weiss on a line over the right-center field fence for a solo home run in the top of the fourth to give the Dominicans a 6-0 lead.

Fernando Tatis breaks game open with grand slam

The powerful Domincan Republic lineup flexed its muscles early, taking advantage of four walks from Israel starter Ryan Prager and a grand slam from Fernando Tatis Jr. to build a 5-0 lead in the second inning.

Prager couldn’t find the strike zone in walking Manny Machado, Carlos Santana and Oneil Cruz to load the bases. The Dominicans’ first run crossed the plate when Geraldo Perdomo drew another walk with two outs. That set the stage for Tatis’ long blast to left field.

Israel lineup for today’s game vs. Dominican Republic

  1. Spencer Horwitz, DH
  2. Noah Mendlinger, 2B
  3. Harrison Bader, CF
  4. RJ Schreck, RF
  5. Cole Carrigg, SS
  6. Garrett Stubbs, C
  7. Zach Levenson, LF
  8. Matt Mervis, 1B
  9. Colby Halter, 3B

SP Ryan Prager

Manager: Brad Ausmus

Dominican Republic lineup for today’s game vs. Israel

  1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
  2. Ketel Marte, 2B
  3. Juan Soto, LF
  4. Manny Machado, DH
  5. Junior Caminero, 3B
  6. Carlos Santana., 1B
  7. Oneil Cruz, CF
  8. Agustin Ramirez, C
  9. Geraldo Perdomo, SS

SP Brayan Bello

Manager: Albert Pujols

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.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY