EASLEY — Franyelyn Diaz hit a home run and had three rbi to lead the Dominican Republic to an 8-2 victory over Germany in the first game of the 2009 Big League World Series.

The Dominican Republic is 1-0 in the International Pool of the BLWS, and will next play Canada 7:30 p.m. Thursday on Field 3 of the J.B. “Red” Owens Recreation Complex.. Canada will be making its debut in this year’s series.

Germany drops to 0-1. Germany’s next game in the series is 7:30 p.m. Friday against Canada on Field 3.

Odalis Jimenez picked up the win for the Dominican Republic, pitching 6 innings and giving up two earned runs. Jimenez struck out 9 German batters.

Rene Wolf was the losing pitcher.

Diaz started the Dominican Republic off in the first inning by reaching base on a fielding error and advancing to second base. Diaz stole third. Two batters later, Edison Flete was walked, giving the Dominican Republic runners on the corners with one out.

Gilbert Jimenez singled, scoring Diaz from third. Later in the inning, Flete scored on an error to give the Dominican Republic a 2-0 lead after one inning.

In the top of the second inning, Germany got on the board with a home run by Sascha Brockenmeyer, cutting the Dominican Republic’s lead to 2-1.

Germany more than answered in the bottom of the inning.

Winston Contreras singled, then advanced to second on an error. Contreras stole third.

Odalis Jimenez earned a base on balls, then stole second. He moved to third on a throwing error that allowed Contreras to score, increasing the lead to 3-1.

Diaz then singled and drove in Contreras from third, giving the Dominican Republic a 4-1 lead. Later Diaz scored as Manuel Tejada got caught in a run-down situation between first and second base. The Dominican Republic took a 5-1 lead after two innings.

Germany scored another run in the third inning when Christopher Gobel hit a double, then advanced to third on a throwing error, and stole home, making the score Dominican Republic 5, Germany 2.

Diaz added to the Dominican Republic lead with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, giving his team a 7-2 lead.

The final Dominican Republic run came in the fifth inning. Darlin Siri singled, then stole second base. He was sent home by a single by Contreras.