Sanoja homers, Venezuela rides 4-run 5th to win over Netherlands
Javier Sanoja of the Miami Marlins homered in his home ballpark and Willson Contreras had a two-run single to highlight a four-run fifth as Venezuela opened Pool D play with a win over the Netherlands.
Team Venezuela's Javier Sanoja homers in his home ballpark! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/mcgtsavlco
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 6, 2026
Sanoja, Contreras and Wilyer Abreu all had two hits for Venezuela, while Luis Arraez drove in two runs and Ronald Acuña Jr. scored twice.
Venezuela starter Ranger Suarez allowed three hits and one run in two innings.
Druw Jones — the son of Netherlands manager and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Andruw Jones — drove in both Netherlands runs, first with a tying double in the second and then a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Antwone Kelly started on the mound for the Netherlands, giving up four hits and two runs in three innings.
Both teams return to action Saturday, with Netherlands taking on Nicaragua and Venezuela meeting Israel.