Angels star Mike Trout hit a three-run homer, Lance Lynn threw five impressive innings and Team USA used a nine-run first inning to cruise past Canada, 12-1, on Monday night in a World Baseball Classic game in Phoenix.
The game was called after seven innings because of the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.
The United States improved to 2-1 and bounced back from an 11-5 loss to Mexico on Sunday with its best offensive performance of the tournament in what felt like a must-win for the Americans. Canada fell to 1-1 before a crowd of 29,621 at Chase Field.
The Americans sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning. Nolan Arenado (El Toro High) had a two-run double to start the scoring and Trout finished it by belting a low fastball into the seats beyond left-center field.
Big fly for @MikeTrout to cap off a nine-run first for Team USA! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/RjioUh8EnX
— MLB (@MLB) March 14, 2023
Trea Turner added a solo home run in the second to cap the scoring for Team USA.
Lynn got the win, giving up one run and two hits while saving the bullpen for the team’s final game of pool play against Colombia on Wednesday. Team USA manager Mark DeRosa had to use eight pitchers on Sunday in the loss to Mexico.
Canada scored its lone run on Jared Young’s homer. Left-hander Mitch Bratt took the loss, giving up six earned runs while getting only one out.
Team USA is piling it on! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/n3o1wzMxYD
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 14, 2023
The WBC mercy rule is in effect for the first round only, and games are terminated when there’s a 15-run lead after five innings or a 10-run lead after seven innings. Also, the pool-play tiebreaker is based on runs allowed, so running up the score is beneficial.
PUERTO RICO DOMINATES ISRAEL
José De León and three relievers combined to pitch eight perfect innings as Puerto Rico routed Israel, 10-0, in Miami in a game that was called early because of the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.
Yacksel Ríos, Edwin Díaz and Duane Underwood Jr. closed out the win for Puerto Rico, which did not permit a baserunner. But it will not count as a perfect game in official WBC records because the game didn’t go a full nine innings. That’s the standard established by the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician for Major League Baseball.
The dominant performance came a day after Puerto Rico’s late rally fell short in a disappointing 9-6 loss to Venezuela.
“Very happy for the guys, especially after what happened Sunday,” Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina said in Spanish. “To come out aggressively and win the game the way we did makes me very proud.”
De León tied a WBC record with 10 strikeouts in 5-2/3 innings, earning the win. The right-hander was lifted after he fanned Spencer Horwitz on his 64th pitch, one under the tournament limit for starting pitchers in the first round. He exited to a huge ovation from the prohibitive Puerto Rico crowd of 27,813 in Miami.
Afterward, he had the game ball signed by his teammates.
“When I represented Puerto Rico in 2017, that was the highlight of my career,” De León said. “There was only one way to top that and it’s doing it again. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity.”
Ríos relieved De León and struck out his only batter to end the sixth.
With his team up 9-0 in the seventh, Molina turned to Díaz, the New York Mets’ star closer, and he struck out one hitter in a 1-2-3 inning. Underwood retired Israel in order on 10 pitches in the eighth.
Javier Báez doubled twice and Francisco Lindor tripled and singled for Puerto Rico, which finished with 11 hits and improved to 2-1.
Puerto Rico struck quickly against Israel starter Colton Gordon with a three-run first. Báez hit a two-run double and scored on Eddie Rosario’s double.
The extra-base hits continued for Puerto Rico in the second, resulting in another three runs. Kiké Hernández made it 5-0 with a two-run double and raced home on Emmanuel Rivera’s triple.
Lindor’s two-run triple keyed a three-run fifth, and Hernández’s run-scoring single in the eighth ended the game.
BRITAIN 7, COLOMBIA 5
Jaden Rudd hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth inning, Harry Ford added a solo homer and Britain won a WBC game for the first time, doing Team USA a favor in the process.
Graham Spraker got the win by pitching 2-2/3 innings of scoreless relief, and Ian Gibaut earned the save. Colombia’s Yapson Gomez – who gave up Rudd’s double in the fifth – took the loss.
Dayan Frias had two hits and two RBIs for Colombia, which fell to 1-1 in the tournament. Britain improved to 1-2. The result allowed Team USA to control its own destiny again despite its loss to Mexico.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 6, NICARAGUA 1
San Diego Padres stars Juan Soto and Manny Machado homered, and the Dominican Republic picked up its first win of WBC pool play in Miami.
Rafael Devers hit a two-out RBI double in the first against Nicaragua starter JC Ramirez, driving in Soto for a 1-0 lead. Eloy Jimenez’s single in the second scored Soto again and gave the Dominicans a 2-0 lead.
Winning pitcher Cristian Javier allowed only two hits and struck out four in four innings.
The Dominican Republic (1-1) doubled its lead in the fourth when Francisco Mejia singled off Fidencio Flores to score Willy Adames, then Julio Rodriguez singled to drive in Jeimer Candelario.
Soto blasted a shot to right field off Junior Tellez to make it 5-0 in the fifth, and Machado tagged Tellez in the next inning with a drive to right-center.
Soto scored three runs. Machado also doubled in the ninth.
Nicaragua (0-3) made it 6-1 in the eighth on Elian Miranda’s bases-loaded RBI single. Ramirez took the loss.
SOUTH KOREA 22, CHINA 2
Kunwoo Park and Ha-Seong Kim hit grand slams in consecutive innings, and South Korea set a WBC scoring record with a 22-2 blowout of China in Tokyo in a game between teams that were already eliminated.
South Korea broke the runs record that had stood since Japan beat China, 18-2, in the first round of the initial WBC in 2006.
South Korea (2-2) finished third in Group B and failed to advance past the first round for the third straight WBC. The South Koreans finished third in the initial tournament in 2006 and were runner-up in 2009.
China (0-4) has never advanced past the first round. The last-place finish in the group means it will have to go through qualifying to reach the 2026 tournament.
The South Koreans took a 4-2 lead with a two-run second, then broke open the game with eight runs in the third, six in the fourth and four in the fifth. The game was stopped after five innings under the tournament’s mercy rule, which calls for games to end if a team leads by 15 runs after five innings or by 10 runs after seven.
Park had five RBIs, Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim had four, and Hyseong Kim and Jung Hoo Lee three each for South Korea, which outhit China 20-4. Park hit his slam in the fourth off Hailong Sun and Ha-Seong Kim hit his in the fifth against Changlong Su.
Winning pitcher Hyeong Jun So entered to start the second inning and retired nine straight batters.
Losing pitcher Alan Carter, an Angels minor leaguer, allowed four runs, four hits and two walks in 1-1/3 innings.
AUSTRALIA 8, CZECH REPUBLIC 3
Milwaukee Brewers prospect Alex Hall had four RBIs as Australia (3-1) advanced past the first round for the first time in five WBC appearances, finishing second in the group behind Japan (4-0). The Czechs (1-3) finished fourth.
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Logan Wade hit a tiebreaking, two-run double off the right-field wall in the seventh off loser Marek Minarik, driving in Robbie Glendinning and Aaron Whitefield for a 3-1 lead.
Hall homered in the first, the only hit off Martin Schneider in 5-1/3 innings. Schneider was pulled after 68 pitches, having reached the limit.
Eric Sogard had a tying single in the third off Mitch Neunborn that scored Petr Zyma. Hall hit a two-run triple in the eighth and a run-scoring grounder in the ninth.
Marek Chlup had a two-run single in the eighth for the Czechs.