MIAMI -- Friday night, Dusty Baker said he was glad his team didn’t have much time to stew over its loss to the Dominican Republic. Saturday’s walk-off loss to the Netherlands was an even bigger gut punch, one Baker’s team will have to sit with until Sunday night’s matchup against Israel.
“It was a crushing defeat, not only for us but for the whole country of Nicaragua,” Baker said. “You've got to lick your wounds and then come back tomorrow.”
2026 World Baseball Classic
Pool B (Houston) & Pool D (Miami) presented by Capital One
• How to watch games live
• Scores and schedule
• Standings and tiebreakers
• Tickets and venues
• Rosters
• Players by MLB team
• Complete coverage
The game is a must-win for 0-2 Nicaragua if there’s any hope of advancing out of Pool D, though the country is still searching for its first win in WBC history.
Israel lost its opener Saturday night, falling to Venezuela by a one-sided 11-3 final.
“That's the one thing about baseball and baseball players; we have games almost every day, and you get very good at putting last night or yesterday in the rear-view mirror and just keep looking out the windshield,” Israel manager Brad Ausmus said. “This one will be flushed and we'll be ready to go.”
Sunday, Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer will try to even Israel’s record at 1-1, taking the ball for the country for the third straight Classic -- the only player to appear on the team in all three tournaments.
“This is year 12 for me wearing that jersey,” Kremer said. “Third time in this tournament, and every time I get to put it on, I'm more than happy and proud.”
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:
When and where: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, loanDepot park
How you can watch: Tubi
How you can listen: There is a free English-language audio stream available for every game.
Probable starting pitchers: RHP Carlos Rodriguez (Nicaragua) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (Israel)
What’s at stake: The only two winless teams in Pool D, both Israel (0-1) and Nicaragua (0-2) are in must-win territory if they hope to advance to the second round.
Matchup history: Israel defeated Nicaragua, 3-1, in the 2023 Classic, the only meeting between the two countries. Nicaragua led 1-0 after seven innings, but Israel scored three times in the eighth, getting two RBIs from Garrett Stubbs and another from Spencer Horwitz, who are both back on Israel’s 2026 roster.