MIAMI – After watching his team give up nine runs over the final three innings of a lopsided loss against the Dominican Republic on Friday night, Nicaragua manager Dusty Baker was excited to get back to loanDepot park for the next game.
2026 World Baseball Classic
Pool B (Houston) & Pool D (Miami) presented by Capital One
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Fortunately for Baker and his club, the wait won’t be too long.
Nicaragua will take on the Netherlands on Saturday at noon, less than 14 hours after they walked off the field in their World Baseball Classic opener.
“I'm glad that we are playing a day game tomorrow,” Baker said. “We don't have much time to think about this loss.”
The Netherlands also dropped its opening game of the Classic on Friday, as a four-run fifth inning was too much for manager Andruw Jones’ team to overcome against Venezuela.
“It's going to be one loser, one winner, and you don't want to be on the other side,” Jones said. “We lost today. We know what we did wrong. Tomorrow is going to be another day, so we've got to go out there and correct all those mistakes.”
Right-hander Jaitoine Kelly gets the start for the Netherlands, one day after his brother, Antwone, had the same assignment. Jaitoine, who is in the Diamondbacks’ system, will become the youngest starting pitcher in WBC history at 18 years, 251 days. The only other pitcher under 19 years old to pitch in the Classic was Kelly’s current 38-year-old Netherlands teammate Shairon Martis, who threw a seven-inning, mercy-rule no-hitter against Panama in 2006.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:
When and where: Saturday, Noon 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 Erasmo Ramírez (Nicaragua) vs. RHP Jaitoine Kelly (Netherlands)
What’s at stake: It’s tough to call the second game of the tournament a must-win, but the loser will find itself 0-2 halfway through pool play, presenting an uphill climb to advance to the next round.
Matchup history: This will be the first meeting between Nicaragua and the Netherlands.