2026 World Baseball Classic: Ozzie Albies’ walk-off HR leads Netherlands past Nicaragua

The World Baseball Classic is only three days old and it has already provided major drama. Saturday afternoon at loanDepot Park in Miami, the Netherlands stole victory from the jaws of defeat against Nicaragua thanks to a lucky bounce and Ozzie Albies’ walk-off homer (NED 4, NIC 3). It is the first walk-off home run in World Baseball Classic history, and the tenth walk-off period.

Here is Albies’ game-winning three-run blast, which improved the Netherlands to 1-1 with what amount to must-win games against the Dominican Republic and Israel remaining.

“I just needed a hit to keep the rally going or tie the game because we have speed on the bases. I said if he brings his best pitches, the fastball, I’ve got to put my best swing on it,” Albies said. “The moment I hit it — you know, when you swing and miss, you don’t touch the ball, I felt just like that. It hit the perfect spot on the bat so I was really happy it happened at the right time.”

Because losing on a walk-off homer isn’t crushing enough, Nicaragua was on the verge of its first-ever win in the WBC proper. They won WBC qualifiers to clinch spots in the 2023 and 2026 events, but Nicaragua remains winless in the WBC itself. They are now 0-6 all-time while getting outscored 38-10. Saturday is about as heartbreaking a loss as it gets.

“You have no choice,” Nicaragua manager Dusty Baker (yes, that Dusty Baker) said when asked how you turn the page after a loss like that. “It was a crushing defeat, not only for us but for the whole country of Nicaragua. You’ve got to lick your wounds and then come back tomorrow.”

Although it did not feature high-profile teams, Saturday’s game was arguably the most compelling of the WBC to date. The walk-off homer was only part of the drama. 

Jeter Downs gave Nicaragua the lead

Saturday’s game was tied 1-1 into the eighth inning when Jeter Downs, who is best remembered for going to the Boston Red Sox in the Mookie Betts trade, gave Nicaragua a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer. He took Dutch pro Lars Huijer deep. There was excitement and emotion on display in the Nicaragua dugout.

The home run was something of a redemption moment for Downs, who earlier in the game prematurely celebrated a well-struck fly ball, then had to watch as it was caught for an out. 

“He played a great game,” Baker said about Downs. “He saved a run out there on defense. I didn’t think that he really got the first one because this park is deep. I know he got the second one. I just hoped that it went out of the park and didn’t hit off the top of the wall.”

Now 27, Downs played last season with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, where he slashed .249/.348/.460 with nine homers in 103 games. He played 20 career big-league games with the Red Sox and Washington Nationals before going to Japan. It’s fair to say Saturday’s homer was the biggest of Downs’ career, but ultimately it went for naught.

The Netherlands got a lucky bounce

It should have been over. Xander Bogaerts, the batter before Albies, hit a ground ball to third base that Cheslor Cuthbert was behind and ready to field, but the ball hit the bag and hopped over Cuthbert’s head. That would have been the 27th and final out. Instead, the game continued, and Albies walked it off.

Here’s the lucky bounce that kept the game alive for the Netherlands:

“Better to be lucky, you know?” Bogaerts said about his grounder hitting third base. “It wasn’t looking good for us. It wasn’t. But a couple of guys in the lineup we have, you know who they are, and we have experience, and proved it today, and it was vital today.”  

You can never truly know how things would have played out, but if that ball takes a routine hop rather than hitting the bag, it sure looks like Cuthbert was well-positioned to make that play and seal the win. A game of inches, as they say. The lucky bounce for the Netherlands goes down as a disastrous turn of events for Nicaragua.

The decision to stick with Angel Obando

Lefty Carlos Teller was ready to go in the bullpen after Bogaerts found the third base bag, but Baker stuck with righty Angel Obando, who was very effective up to that point. He was also 3 ⅓ innings and 44 pitches into his outing, and appeared to be running out of gas. Obando’s next pitch after Bogaerts’ lucky bounce was hit out of the ballpark.

It’s easy to second-guess these things, but Obando had been very good up to that point and didn’t exactly get hit hard in the ninth inning (at least not until Albies went deep). Ceddanne Rafaela blooped a single to shallow center and Bogaerts hit what was really a routine grounder. Also, Teller is a lefty and Albies annihilates lefties. Sticking with Obando was defensible.

That said, Obando did appear to be on fumes. His fastball, which was 94-95 mph early in Saturday’s game, had dipped down more in the 93 mph range, and his location wasn’t nearly as sharp. Also, Baker could have intentionally walked Albies to set up the left-on-left matchup with Teller vs. Didi Gregorius, but he didn’t want to put the winning run on second. So, second-guess away.

“He was throwing the ball good. He was throwing hard,” Baker said about Obando. “Like I said, they flared one into right that you can’t help and you can’t do anything about hitting the bag. If I take him out in that situation and the next guy gives it up, then you’re going to ask me how come he came out of the game. There is no right answer. There’s only a right or a wrong outcome.”

Obando, 27, has made a handful of winter ball appearances over the years, but has more or less been out of baseball since 2019. The talent disparity, like the one in the ninth inning Saturday — a part-time pitcher vs. MLB All-Star hitters — is something we see all the time in the first round of the WBC.