Schwarber’s 3-run homer lifts USA past Great Britain in WBC

PHOENIX (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer, Nolan Arenado had three hits and two RBIs, and the United States overcame a slow start to beat Great Britain 6-2 Saturday in the opener of the World Baseball Classic. for both teams.

Trayce Thompson put Great Britain up 1-0 in the first innings on Adam Wainwright’s home run that barely cleared the left-centre wall. Thompson, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is one of the few players on Great Britain’s roster with major league experience.

Thompson’s drive briefly ruined the mood of the crowd of 39,650 at Chase Field, but the Americans weren’t far behind for long.

The US took a 2-1 lead in the third and then opened the game in the fourth with a Schwarber shot that landed in the stands near the pool behind the right center fence at Chase Field.

In Tokyo, Shohei Ohtani had another run-scoring double, 21-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki hit 100 mph 21 times on 66 pitches and Japan beat the Czech Republic 10-2 on Saturday night to clinch a spot in the quarters. of end.

Shugo Maki hit his second home run of the tournament and new Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida had three RBIs, including a third-inning go-ahead two-run double to underdog Ondrej Satoria as the Samurai Warriors outscored a 1-0 deficit. .

Ohtani went 1 for 3 with a walk before a Tokyo Dome crowd of 41,637, leaving a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. He is 5-for-10 with three doubles, four RBIs and five walks for Japan (3-0), which has one more game in the group stage and will host the quarterfinals on Wednesday or Thursday. He has also pitched four scoreless innings.

Sasaki struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings for the win. He allowed one unearned run, two hits and two walks.

Sasaki pitched the 16th perfect game in Japanese major league history in April, then pitched eight perfect innings in his next start before being pulled after 102 pitches. He went 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League last year, striking out 173 in 129 1/3 innings.

In the opener, Rixon Wingrove had four RBIs as Australia (2-0) won in a 12-2 win over China (0-3) in a game shortened to seven innings on the 10-run mercy rule.

In Pool B in Taichung, Boston’s Yu Chang hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the second inning that lifted host Taiwan to a 9-5 win over the Netherlands (2-1), and Panama (2-2) won 2 -0 over Italy. (1-2).

In the first game of Pool C in Phoenix, Colombia beat Mexico 5-4 in 10 innings when Jorge Alfaro scored on an error by shortstop Luis Urías.

Likewise, Puerto Rico defeated Nicaragua 9-1 and Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic 5-1 in Miami.

PHOENIX — Wainwright allowed one run and five hits in four innings for the win. Kyle Freeland allowed one run in three innings of relief and David Bednar struck out the winger in the ninth.

Former major league pitcher Vance Worley allowed two unearned runs in 2 2/3 innings for Great Britain. Thompson, who tied his career high with 13 home runs last season for the Dodgers, finished with two hits.

MIAMI (AP) — Luis Garcia struck out seven in three hitless innings and Venezuela eliminated National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara to beat the Dominican Republic.

The game drew an electrifying crowd of 35,890.

Anthony Santander homered off Alcantara in the second. The Miami Marlins ace allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 3 2-3 innings for a team many consider the WBC favorites.

David Peralta hit a two-run single in the fourth and added an RBI double in the sixth to make it 4-1. Santander hit a triple and scored on Eugenio Suárez’s single in the eighth.

The Dominican Republic threatened in the eighth when Wander Franco singled and World Series MVP Jeremy Peña was walked. But Santander made a diving catch on Jeimer Candelario’s fly ball to right field and Francisco Mejía struck out.

Juan Soto hit an RBI double in the first to give the Dominican Republic a 1-0 lead.

José Altuve, Luis Arraez, Salvador Pérez and Andrés Giménez had hits for Venezuela.

José Ruiz got two outs for the win. Garcia followed up with a commanding performance.

PHOENIX — The back-and-forth game saw Mexico take a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Isaac Paredes’ RBI single.

Colombia tied the game in the top of the fifth and then took a 3-1 lead on Reynaldo Rodríguez’s two-run home run. Mexico’s Randy Arozarena responded with his own two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game 3-3.

The game was tied at 4 going into extra innings. In the 10th, Gustavo Campero grounded out that Urías couldn’t handle, allowing Alfaro to score. Guillermo Zúñiga retired Mexico in order in the bottom of the 10 to seal the victory. Jesús Cruz took the defeat.

TOKYO — Japan pitchers struck out 16 overall.

The Czechs took the lead in the first when Marek Chlup doubled and scored on a throwing error by shortstop Takumu Nakano.

Ohtani struck out two in the third, but Japan went ahead when Yoshida doubled and scored on 2015 Central League MVP Tetsuto Yamada’s single.

Lars Nootbaar hit an RBI single in the fourth as Japan opened up a 7-1 lead. Kenduke Kondoh and Ohtani hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles, and Ohtani stole third and scored on Yoshida’s sacrifice fly.

Yuki Udagawa and Hiroya Miyagi finished off a four-hit game. Miyagi threw 68 pitches in five innings and struck out the last five Czech batters,

TOKYO – Wingrove hit a three-run double off underdog Xin Qi in the first inning and added an RBI single in a five-run quarter as the Southern Thunder opened up a 10-2 lead.

Robbie Glendinning hit his second home run of the tournament, a two-run drive in the fourth against Weiyi Wang.

Winner Kyle Glogoski allowed one hit in 2 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and three walks. Coen Wynne pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings and Todd Van Steensel pitched a perfect seventh as four pitchers combined on a five-hit ball.

China scored twice in the fourth as Jie Cao hit his second double of the game, Luke Wilkins threw a wild pitch that scored a run, and Jinjun Luo hit an RBI single.

TAICHUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Jose Ramos homered off underdog Michele Vassalotti leading off the second inning and scored on Allen Cordoba’s seventh-inning single off Sam Gaviglio. Ramos is hitting .313 (5-for-16).

Italy put runners on the corners in the ninth when Javy Guerra walked Dominic Fletcher leading off and Brett Sullivan singled, but John Valente struck out and Nicky Lopez hit a comeback that Panama turned into a game-ending double play. .

Winner Harold Araúz allowed two hits in four scoreless innings, and Humberto Mejía, Alberto Baldonado and Guerra finished with five hits.

TAICHUNG, Taiwan — Chang homered off Derek West after Li Lin’s RBI single off underdog Lars Huijer. Chang hit a two-run homer in an 11-7 win over Italy and is 6-for-12 with seven RBIs in the tournament.

Winning pitcher Tzu-Peng Huang allowed two runs, one earned, and two hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Didi Gregorius had two RBIs for the Netherlands, including an RBI single in the first inning, and Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and two walks.

Tsung-Che Cheng’s run-scoring single and Kun-Yu Chiang’s sacrifice fly propelled the lead in the third, and Chieh-Hsien Chen made it 8-2 with an RBI triple in the fourth.

Ray-Patrick Didder homered for the Dutch, who had RBI singles from Juremi Profar, Jurickson’s brother, and Wladimir Balentien. The Netherlands closed to 8-5 in the eighth before Chia-Hao Sung retired Chadwick Tromp on a flyout late in the inning with one man on base.

MIAMI — Francisco Lindor scored twice and hit an RBI single as Puerto Rico won its WBC debut in 2023.

Lindor singled and scored in the first inning.

Elián Miranda homered off starter Marcus Stroman in the fifth to tie it at 1. Puerto Rico regained the lead in the bottom half with a five-run inning against JC Ramírez.

Lindor and Javier Báez drove in runs in the fifth, Kike Hernández scored and MJ Meléndez hit a two-run single to give Puerto Rico a 6-1 lead.

Puerto Rico increased their lead with a three-run seventh when Emmanuel Rivera scored on a fielding error and Christian Vázquez added a two-run single.

Vázquez had two hits, a pair of RBIs, and scored once. Nicholas Padilla got the victory for Puerto Rico.

TOKYO (AP) — Ha-Seong Kim of the San Diego Padres hit two solo home runs for South Korea on Sunday.

Winning pitcher Se Woong Park struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings. South Korea improved to 1-2 in Pool B and will play winless China in their final pool match. The Czechs are also 1-2.

St. Louis Cardinals infielder Tommy Edman hit a two-run single for South Korea. Kim’s home run in the sixth made it 6-0.

Matej Mensik put the Czech Republic on the scoreboard with a two-run double in the seventh. Kim hit his second home run of the game in the bottom half.

TAICHUNG, Taiwan — Cuba received home runs from Yoán Moncada of the Chicago White Sox and Erisbel Arruebarrena.

Cuba and Taiwan are 2-2 in a close Group A match. The Netherlands and Italy were scheduled to play later on Sunday. The Dutch are 2-1 and Italy are 1-2.

If the Dutch defeat Italy, they would advance to the quarterfinals, as would Cuba.

Cuba took a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Alfredo Despaigne’s double that scored Moncada and his White Sox teammate Luis Robert. Arruebarrena’s two-run home run later in the inning made it 4–0.

Cuba’s starter Elián Leyva pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, striking out four.