Canada cruised to an 8-2 win over Colombia in their World Baseball Classic opener in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday.
A run-saving defensive play by brothers Josh and Bo Naylor boosted Canada in the first inning, and Owen Cassie hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the second off emergency starter Austin Bergner after Julio Teheran was scratched.
A 35-year-old right-hander who last pitched in the major leagues in 2024, Teheran felt right shoulder impingement while warming up.
Michael Arroyo led off the game with a single off Michael Soroka, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Reynaldo Rodriguez grounded to first baseman Josh Naylor, who threw to brother Bo, both from Mississauga, Ont., at the plate for the tag.
That was one of four Colombia outs on the bases. Rodriguez and Jesus Marriaga were caught stealing by Bo Naylor and Daniel Vellojin was thrown out trying to reach second on a dropped fly ball in the ninth inning.
Arroyo cut Colombia’s deficit with an RBI single in the third off Soroka, who allowed four hits in three innings. Abraham Toro restored a two-run lead with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half from Emerson Martinez.
Josh Naylor had a run-scoring single in the seventh that drove in Toronto’s Denzel Clarke, a cousin, after Marriaga dropped Clarke’s fly to right for an error.
Harold Ramirez had an RBI double in the eighth. With two on and two outs, Gio Urshela swung and missed at three straight sliders from Eric Cerantola.
Toro had an RBI triple in a four-run bottom half and scored on Bo Naylor’s single.
Winner Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Que., who last pitched in the major leagues in 2015, struck out Tito Polo for the final out.
Colombia dropped to 0-2 in Group A. Both teams are in action again on Sunday, with Colombia playing Cuba and Canada taking on Panama.
Ohtani homers in 2nd straight game
Shohei Ohtani homered for the second straight day and Seiya Suzuki went deep twice and defending champion Japan beat South Korea 8-6 on Saturday night at Tokyo and improved to 2-0.
Suzuki drove in four runs and Masataka Yoshida homered and had three RBIs for the Samurai Warriors, who overcame a 3-0, first-inning deficit.
A day after hitting a grand slam in a 13-0 win over Taiwan, Ohtani hit a tying home run on a hanging curve from Young Pyo Ko in the third.
Suzuki hit a two-run homer in the second. Two batters after Ohtani’s drive, Suzuki chased Ko by homering for a 4-3 lead. Yoshida homered on reliever Byeong Hyeon Jo’s second pitch.
Hyeseong Kim’s two-run homer against Hiromi Ito tied the score in the fourth for South Korea (1-1).
Suzuki put Japan ahead for good at 6-5 when he drew a bases-loaded walk from Young Kyu Kim in a three-run seventh that included Yoshida’s two-run single.
Ju Won Kim cut South Korea’s deficit with an RBI single off Yuki Matsumoto in the eighth before Hyeseong Kim stranded the bases loaded when he struck out against Yuki Matsumoto.
Winner Atsuki Taneichi struck out the side in the seventh, and Taisei Ota got three straight outs on seven pitches for the save.
Japan and Australia are 2-0 in Group C and meet Sunday as the favorites to advance to the quarterfinals.
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was at the game, a day after Timothee Chalamet and pop singer Bad Bunny attended.
Albies hits game-winning 3-run homer
Ozzie Albies hit a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Netherlands over Nicaragua.
The Netherlands began its two-out rally on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single against reliever Angel Obando. Xander Bogaerts doubled, advancing Rafaela to third before Albies hit Obando’s first pitch over the wall in right.
The Netherlands improved to 1-1 in Group D. Nicaragua dropped to 0-2.
Jeter Downs hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth to put Nicaragua ahead 3-1. He drove a sinker from Netherlands reliever Lars Huijer over the wall in left-center. Huijer threw two innings of relief for the win.
The Netherlands stranded 14 base runners and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position before Albies’ homer.
Rafaela, Bogaerts and Druw Jones all had two hits for the Netherlands.
Nicaragua starter Erasmo Ramirez plunked Albies with the bases loaded in the third, giving the Netherlands a 1-0 lead. Ramirez allowed one run and five hits over five innings while Netherlands starter Jaitoine Kelly threw two scoreless innings.
Fairchild’s grand slam powers Taiwan over Czechs 14-0
Stuart Fairchild, whose mother is from Taiwan, hit a second-inning grand slam off Jan Novak for a quick six-run lead.
Taiwan set a WBC record with seven steals and improved to 1-2 in a game cut to seven innings by a mercy rule. The slam was the third of the tournament, one shy of the WBC record.
The Czechs dropped to 0-3 in their second WBC and are 1-6 in two tournaments, with a win over China in 2023.
Taiwan went ahead in the first on a throwing error by catcher Martin Cervenka on a double steal, and and an RBI single Yu Chang, who had three hits and four RBIs.
Winner Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang struck out four in 2 2/3 innings. Novak took the loss, allowing six runs, five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings.
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