Venezuela bats come alive in first round win over Netherlands

[p]They put up 11 total hits with eight of their 10 batters recording at least one hit each. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/boston-red-sox/zaXTinF3/"]Boston Red Sox[/a] players [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/contreras-willson/nwyMfTpS/"]Wilson Contreras[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/abreu-wilyer/dhRCYg2C/"]Wilyer Abreu[/a] both led the way with two hits, along with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/miami-marlins/ddxzWOqT/"]Miami Marlins[/a]' [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanoja-javier/EwqJTq02/"]Javier Sanoja[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arraez-luis/z18CGfi2/"]Luis Arraez[/a] and Contreras both had two runs batted in, while the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/venezuela/AVsaRYCE/"]Venezuela[/a] bullpen didn't allow a single earned run and only one hit through seven innings of work. Starting pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suarez-ranger/K0G0XXQ2/"]Ranger Suarez[/a] got the win after giving up just one earned run on three hits in two innings of work. [/p][p]Their next game will be against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/israel/4tfBfri1/"]Israel[/a] on March 7th at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/netherlands/S4VCKAKf/"]Netherlands[/a]' next game will come against the powerhouse [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dominican-republic/tAGs4ije/"]Dominican Republic[/a] on March 8th at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time.[/p][embed guid="0c0932a4-6d69-422d-b778-8e2db89d1a67" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2030012233145557387?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Recap and highlights[/h2][p]Arraez didn't waste any time putting Venezuela on the board in the very first inning. After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/acuna-jr-ronald/l4fMjWuo/"]Ronald Acuna Jr.[/a] doubled in the team's first at-bat, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-maikel/O2NTotqS/"]Maikel Garcia[/a] got him over to third on a groundout.[/p][p][b]Then, Arraez, one of baseball's best contact hitters, put one on the ground into left field to get the party started for Venezuela, scoring Acuna from third to go up 1-0.[/b][/p][embed guid="1dfce5a2-b3aa-4651-afb9-3b9d9a35996a" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2029971601937100960?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]In the bottom half of the first, Venezuela shortstop [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gimenez-andres/2Xg2cDy8/"]Andres Gimenez[/a] showed off the hops in what would've been a single, maybe more, from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gregorius-didi/tETKWrWj/"]Didi Gregorius[/a].[/p][p]Gimenez finished 1-for-2 at the plate for the game with a run and a walk. Gregorius finished 0-for-3 with a run.[/p][embed guid="04f536a2-43fe-4f30-a31b-5b2f687ccb80" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2029975012841562514?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Then, it was the Netherlands' turn to get on the board. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jones-druw/hvovdSAg/"]Druw Jones[/a], former No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft and the son of manager Andruw Jones, a recent Hall of Fame inductee, tied it all up in a similar fashion by hitting a groundball single into left field to bring in Hendrick Clementina all the way from second base. [/b][/p][p]Jones finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBI. [/p][embed guid="d0407d38-2039-4d28-8e4d-22508ff6efeb" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2029977826854662322?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]And just like that, the tie was broken in the very next inning as Venezuela went up 2-1.[/p][p][b]Sanoja cranked a home run in what looked to be an impossible pitch to hit to deep left field, marking the country's first home run of the tournament. [/b][/p][p]Netherlands starting pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kelly-antwone/INapTAa7/"]Antwone Kelly[/a] went on to pitch the following inning before being finished for the game, giving up two runs on four hits in three innings with one strikeout and one walk.[/p][embed guid="07dab39c-9f5b-4c53-95d5-edf290bf1c6c" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaII4tNUEQg" social-type="youtube" /][p]Both teams went three-up, three-down in the third inning and failed to score in the fourth as well. [/p][p]With two outs and men on second and first, the Netherlands failed to tie it up after one of their stars, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/albies-ozzie/4Y95MeKQ/"]Ozzie Albies[/a], grounded out to end the top half of the fifth. That's when Venezuela took complete control of the game. [/p][p][b]Before not scoring against in their final three innings of at-bat, Venezuela tacked on four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. [/b][/p][embed guid="7e868f8b-f6c2-4c3a-936a-5f885a7f51a8" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5dg0X5ipYM" social-type="youtube" /][p]The Netherlands had bases loaded with no outs at the top of the sixth inning, but only managed to score one run the entire rest of the way. [/p][p]Jones would once again be the team's only man to bring in the run, but on a sac-fly following [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tromp-chadwick/dKhHKuIs/"]Chadwick Tromp[/a]'s fly-out to make it two outs before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/didder-ray-patrick/l4jU99JS/"]Ray-Patrick Didder[/a] followed with a fly out of his own. [/p][p]The Netherlands didn't record a single hit the rest of the way. [/p]