Braves news: Marlins target Ronald Acuña with near-HBP at WBC (Video)

Venezuela is loaded with MLB talent at the World Baseball Classic, including Ronald Acuña of the Atlanta Braves. But few saw their win over the Dominican Republic coming.

Ronald Acuña and Venezuela upset the Dominican Republic, 5-1, in what can only be described as a clash of the titans. The pressure is on the DR to come through this year, as they feature on the best lineups ever assembled, let alone in WBC history. With defending NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara on the mound, a victory seemed all but assured on Saturday.

Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz and other Dominican baseball legends were on hand to watch. Yet, with all that pressure comes great responsibility, and the DR didn’t follow through.

Venezuela stars Anthony Santander and David Peralta knocked Alcantara out of the game early.

“I was trying to use my instincts to get all those good swings to the plate,” manager Omar López said. “It was a matchup based on the roster. But [Santander] played very well, and the catch in center field, plus other plays … these were key plays in the game.”

Braves: Ronald Acuña HBP, leads postgame celebration

Acuña, Miguel Cabrera and several other Venezuelan stars led the clubhouse celebration postgame. It was well earned, despite being just the first game of the tournament for the team.

Acuña himself struggled, grounding into two double plays against division foe Alcantara. He was also nearly clipped on the hand via and inside fastball.

His teammates picked up the slack, however, and Venezuela had a solid offensive output against arguably the best pitcher in baseball.

“I had never played in this kind of atmosphere, exciting with energy, representing my country,” Peralta said. “It was not easy for me to calm down when I was at bat, but we are professionals. … I had to calm down to control my emotions.”