Curaçao Neptunus Beats Amsterdam Pirates 10-6 in Game 2, Takes 2-0 Holland Series Lead

Curaçao Neptunus moved two wins away from another Dutch baseball championship after defeating Amsterdam Pirates 10-6 in Game 2 of the 2026 Holland Series on Sunday at the Loek Loevendie Ballpark in Amsterdam.

The defending champions had to work considerably harder than the final four-run margin suggests.

Amsterdam took an early 2-0 lead, Neptunus responded by scoring five runs to move ahead, and the Pirates fought all the way back to tie the game at 6-6 after eight innings. Rotterdam then delivered the decisive blow in the ninth, scoring four times to secure a second consecutive victory in the best-of-seven championship series.

The result gives Curaçao Neptunus a 2-0 Holland Series lead following Saturday’s 6-5 victory in Rotterdam.

Amsterdam Pirates strikes first in Game 2

Unlike Game 1, when Neptunus immediately put three runs on the board in the opening inning, Amsterdam enjoyed the better start on Sunday.

The Pirates scored twice early and forced Neptunus to play from behind.

That was an important response from Amsterdam after falling just short in Saturday’s opener. The Pirates had scored four runs in the ninth inning of Game 1 before losing 6-5, and they carried that offensive momentum into the start of Game 2.

Neptunus, however, did not allow the early deficit to become a major problem.

By the middle of the fifth inning, Rotterdam had transformed the 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 advantage.

Once again, Neptunus showed why its lineup was one of the most difficult to contain during the 2026 Hoofdklasse season.

Neptunus offense produces 17 hits

Game 2 developed into a far more offensive contest than the first game of the series.

Neptunus finished the afternoon with 17 hits, compared with 10 for Amsterdam, according to the club’s postgame report.

That production ultimately proved decisive.

Rotterdam repeatedly created baserunners and forced the Pirates pitching staff to work under pressure. Even after Amsterdam erased the deficit later in the game, Neptunus still had enough offense left for one final rally.

The defending champion’s depth throughout the batting order has been one of its defining strengths all season, and that was again evident in Amsterdam.

Tommy van de Sanden sparks Pirates comeback

Amsterdam refused to let Neptunus pull away.

With the Pirates trailing 5-2, Tommy van de Sanden hit a home run to help reduce the deficit to 5-4 and bring the home team firmly back into the game.

Van de Sanden entered the Holland Series as one of Amsterdam’s most productive offensive players in 2026, and his power provided exactly the type of momentum shift the Pirates needed.

The comeback continued later.

After hits from Delano Selassa and Van de Sanden, Amsterdam completed its rally and tied the game at 6-6 after eight innings.

At that stage, the second game of the series had effectively become a one-inning contest.

Amsterdam had erased another significant Neptunus advantage, while Rotterdam faced the possibility of seeing the series tied at one victory apiece.

Instead, the champions immediately responded.

Darryl Collins delivers again for Neptunus

For the second consecutive day, Darryl Collins played a major role in the Neptunus offense.

Collins drove in four runs in Game 2, according to NOS, continuing an outstanding start to the Holland Series after recording four hits in Saturday’s opener.

His contribution became especially important during the decisive ninth inning.

With the score tied 6-6, Neptunus produced hits from Collins, Arthur Bonevacia and Stijn van der Meer as Rotterdam broke the game open with four runs.

The inning changed the score from a deadlock into a 10-6 Neptunus advantage.

After Amsterdam had spent several innings fighting its way back into the game, the Pirates had no answer to Rotterdam’s final offensive surge.

It was another example of Neptunus’ ability to respond immediately when momentum appears to be shifting toward its opponent.

Collins becoming early Holland Series difference-maker

Through the opening two games, Collins has emerged as one of the central figures of the 2026 Holland Series.

He went 4-for-5 in Game 1 and followed that performance by driving in four runs in Game 2. His production has helped Neptunus win two very different games: a 6-5 opener built around early offense and strong starting pitching, followed by Sunday’s 10-6 slugfest in Amsterdam.

For a lineup already filled with experienced Hoofdklasse hitters, Collins’ form makes Neptunus even more difficult to pitch around.

Amsterdam has shown that it can repeatedly create rallies against the defending champion, but the Pirates have so far been unable to completely shut down Rotterdam’s offense at the other end.

Two games, two late Amsterdam rallies

The first weekend of the Holland Series has established an interesting pattern.

In Game 1, Neptunus led 6-1 before Amsterdam scored four times in the ninth inning and came within one run of completing a dramatic comeback.

In Game 2, the Pirates again rallied from behind, this time overcoming a 5-2 deficit and eventually tying the game 6-6 after eight innings.

But on both occasions, Neptunus survived.

Saturday required closer Ryan Huntington to stop Amsterdam’s ninth-inning charge. Sunday required the offense to answer with four runs of its own in the final inning.

That ability to win in different ways is significant in a best-of-seven championship series.

Neptunus has now won one low-margin game and one high-scoring contest, while Amsterdam has twice demonstrated that it can put the defending champion under serious pressure.

Neptunus now two wins from championship

With the victory, Neptunus leads the 2026 Holland Series 2-0 and needs only two more victories to secure the Dutch national championship.

The Rotterdam club is attempting to win its 22nd national title and a third consecutive championship. Neptunus entered the Holland Series after finishing the regular season 33-3, ahead of Amsterdam at 30-6.

The regular-season head-to-head series between the clubs finished 3-3, which suggested a close final despite Neptunus’ superior overall record.

The first two games have supported that expectation.

The combined score through two games is 16-11 in favor of Neptunus, but both contests remained competitive deep into the final innings.

Game 3 returns to Rotterdam on Thursday

The Holland Series now pauses before Game 3 on Thursday, September 10 at 19:30 local time at the Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam.

That game has become increasingly important for Amsterdam.

A Pirates victory would cut the series deficit to 2-1 and immediately restore pressure on the defending champion.

A Neptunus victory would make it 3-0 and leave Rotterdam only one win away from another title.

Amsterdam can take confidence from the fact that it has generated offense in both games. The Pirates scored five runs in the opener and six more on Sunday, while twice producing significant late rallies.

The problem is that Neptunus has had an answer every time.

In Game 2, the clearest example came after Amsterdam finally tied the score in the eighth. Rather than allowing the Pirates to carry that momentum into the ninth, Rotterdam immediately scored four runs and finished the afternoon with 17 hits.

Final score: Curaçao Neptunus 10, Amsterdam Pirates 6.

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