PORT CHARLOTTE (DA) — The Kingdom of the Netherlands broke the game open in the first inning, added on in the middle frames and held off a late Tampa Bay rally for an 11-8 win over the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park.
The Dutch side scored four times in the opening inning. Xander Bogaerts and Ozzie Albies each drove in a run, Didi Gregorius added another RBI single, and a double-play ball off the bat of Hendrik Clementina brought home the fourth run.
Tampa Bay answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Netherlands pushed the lead to 7-2 in the third. Gregorius doubled in a run before Dayson Croes lined a two-run single to center.
The lead grew again in the fifth. After an error helped keep the inning alive, Chadwick Tromp delivered a two-run single to left-center to make it 9-4.
Ceddanne Rafaela added a solo home run in the sixth to stretch the margin to 10-5, but the Rays kept chipping away. Tampa Bay scored once in the fifth, once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to pull within 10-8.
The Netherlands got an important insurance run in the ninth. Jose Monzon singled, stole third and scored on Clementina’s single to center.
Jamdrick Cornelia was credited with the win, Jake Woodford took the loss, and Jacob Kmatz earned the save.
The Dutch lineup got production throughout the afternoon, with Bogaerts, Gregorius, Croes, Tromp, Rafaela and Clementina all helping fuel the 11-run output in front of an announced crowd of 2,001.