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Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Brice Turang had three hits and four RBIs to lead the United States to a 15-5 win over Brazil in their World Baseball Classic opener Friday night.
There was one out and one on in the first when Judge, the first player to commit to the team last April, connected off Bo Takahashi at Houston’s Daikin Park.
Lucas Ramirez – with his father, 12-time All-Star Manny Ramirez, in attendance – homered twice for Brazil. He cut the lead to 2-1 with his leadoff homer, and his solo shot in the eighth got Brazil within 8-5.
At 20 years, 49 days, he became the youngest player in WBC history with a multi-homer game.
Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch in the fifth to push the Americans’ lead to 4-1. Turang cleared the bases with his double to left field two pitches later to make it 7-1.
Brazil isarein the WBC for just the second time and first since 2013. The team fell to 0-4 all-time in the tournament after losing to Japan, Cuba and China in 2013.
Another highlight for Brazil came when 17-year-old high school senior Joseph Contreras got Judge to ground into a bases-loaded double play to end the second inning. Contreras, the youngest player in the WBC this year, is the son of pitcher José Contreras, who played 11 MLB seasons.
Lucas Rojo hit an RBI single for Brazil in the seventh before a two-run shot by Victor Mascai off Michael Wacha cut the lead to 7-4.
Bryce Harper’s RBI single got things going in the ninth as the US tacked on seven more runs.
The Americans walked 17 times and forced Brazil to throw 221 pitches.
On Saturday, Brazil face Italy and the US play Britain.
Willi Castro hit an RBI double in a five-run fifth inning, sending Puerto Rico to the win in their Group A opener against Colombia.
Seth Lugo pitched four-plus innings of three-hit ball for Puerto Rico. The right-hander struck out three and walked two.
Harold Ramírez had three of Colombia’s six hits.
Puerto Rico collected each of their five hits in the fifth at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
Carlos Cortes hit a leadoff single and scored on an error by third baseman Gio Urshela. Eddie Rosario singled home Darell Hernaiz, and Martín Maldonado chased Adrian Almeida with another run-scoring single.
Rosario scored on Castro’s line drive to right off David Lorduy, and Heliot Ramos added a sacrifice fly.
Colombia threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with two down. But Fernando Cruz retired pinch-hitter Jordan Diaz on a flyball to right, ending the inning.
Edwin Díaz worked the ninth for Puerto Rico, striking out the side after Tito Polo’s pinch-hit single.
Jose Quintana started for Colombia and tossed three hitless innings. The left-hander threw 31 pitches, 19 for strikes.
Both teams play again on Saturday. Puerto Rico face Panama, and Colombia take on Canada.
In Houston, Jonathan Aranda broke open the game with a three-run homer in the eighth inning to lead Mexico in Pool B.
The game was tied 1-1 after solo homers by both teams when Gary Gill Hill struck out the first two batters in the eighth. He then issued consecutive walks to Jarren Duran and Arozarena before Aranda lifted a low fastball into the left-field seats.
The crowd, overwhelmingly Mexico fans, went wild as Aranda rounded the bases.
Alek Thomas padded the lead with a two-run single in the ninth and Joey Ortiz added an RBI double before Arozarena drove in a run on a single that made it 8-1.
Nacho Alvarez Jr gave Mexico a 1-0 lead in the second inning and Harry Ford tied the score in the sixth.
Jack Anderson started for Britain, allowing two hits and a run with three strikeouts in three innings. Mexico starter Javier Assad permitted two hits while striking out two in 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
Trayce Thompson, a younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, had two hits for Britain, capped by an RBI double in the ninth inning.
Britain will face the US on Saturday night and Mexico resume play Sunday night against Brazil.
At Miami, Javier Sanoja of the Marlins homered in his home ballpark, Willson Contreras had a two-run single to highlight a four-run fifth and Venezuela opened Pool D play with a win over the Netherlands.
Sanoja, Contreras and Wilyer Abreu all had two hits for Venezuela, while Luis Arraez drove in two runs and Ronald Acuña Jr. scored twice.
Venezuela starter Ranger Suarez allowed three hits and one run in two innings.
Druw Jones – the son of Netherlands manager and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Andruw Jones – drove in both Netherlands runs, first with a tying double in the second and then a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Antwone Kelly started on the mound for the Netherlands, giving up four hits and two runs in three innings.
Both teams return to action Saturday, with Netherlands taking on Nicaragua and Venezuela meeting Israel.
Australia (2-0) defeated the Czech Republic (0-2) in Tokyo behind a go-ahead, three-run, third-inning homer from Curtis Mead of the Chicago White Sox off loser Tomas Ondra to remain unbeaten in Pool C.
Australia, which lost to Cuba in a 2023 quarter-final, took a 3-1 lead when Mead homered after the Czechs failed to convert a potential double play. Alex Hall added a solo homer off Ryan Johnson in a two-run ninth.
Vojtech Mensik hit a second-inning sacrifice fly for the Czechs.
Josh Hendrickson allowed one run and two hits over three innings.
Yoán Moncada and Yoelquis Guibert homered off Logan Allen at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Cuba won their WBC opener for the first time since 2013.
Cuba, who lost the 2006 final to Japan and a 2023 semi-final to the US, are missing many top Cuban-born players, including Aroldis Chapman, Randy Arozarena and Luis Robert Jr.
Guibert went deep on a high 2-0 fastball in the second and Moncada one inning later pulled a 3-1 sweeper at the bottom of the strike zone for his first home run off a left-hander since Sept. 28, 2023, off Arizona’s Kyle Nelson.
Panama’s Johan Camargo had an RBI single in the seventh against Emmanuel Chapman and, with runners at the corners, Darien Núñez retired Christian Bethancourt on an inning-ending groundout.
Allen, a Florida native whose mother was born in Panama, allowed three runs and five hits in three innings, taking the loss. Winner Livan Moinelo gave up two hits in three and two-thirds scoreless innings.
Cuba did not have a baserunner after the fifth. Raidel Martinez got three straight outs for the save.
Junior Caminero hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Dominican Republic beat Nicaragua before a crowd of 35,127 to conclude the first day of Pool D at Miami’s loanDepot Park.
Julio Rodriguez and Oneil Cruz also went deep for the Dominican Republic, who broke it open late after Caminero’s homer snapped a 3-all tie.
Manny Machado’s double in the sixth preceded Caminero’s blast. Rodriguez’s leadoff homer and Cruz’s three-run blast highlighted a six-run eighth.
After his drive off Nicaragua reliever Stiven Cruz cleared the center-field wall, Caminero pumped his chest in jubilation as he pointed to the crowd while rounding the bases. Caminero then was mobbed by his teammates when he touched the plate.
The Dominican Republic padded the lead on Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Seranthony Domínguez pitched the sixth for the win. Eight Dominican relievers threw seven and two-thirds scoreless innings after starter Christopher Sánchez got only four outs.
Nicaragua chased Sánchez during a two-run second. Freddy Zamora hit an RBI double and scored from third on an error by left fielder Juan Soto to put Nicaragua ahead 3-2.
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