PHOENIX – Kyle Schwarber fired a homer after three runs, Nolan Arenado had three hits and two RBIs, and the United States overcame a slow begin to beat Great Britain 6-2 on Saturday night in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic for each teams.
Trayce Thompson put Great Britain 1-0 in the first round after a homer off Adam Wainwright who had just missed the left center wall.
Thompson – who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers – is one of the few players in the British squad to have extensive league experience.
Thompson’s drive briefly dampened the spirits of the 39,650 fans at Chase Field, but there was no end to the Americans.
The United States took a 2–1 lead in the third, then opened the game in the fourth with a Schwarber shot that landed in the bleachers near the pool, which is situated behind the right center fence at Chase Field.
In Tokyo, Shohei Ohtani had one other RBI double, 21-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki hit 100 mph 21 times on 66 throws, and Japan defeated the Czech Republic 10-2 on Saturday night to advance to the quarter-finals.
Shugo Maki made his second home run of the tournament and latest Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida had three RBIs including a green light, a two-inning double in the third round against Ondrej Satoria as the Samurai Warriors overcame a 1-0 deficit .
Ohtani went 1-for-3, walking in front of a crowd of 41,637 at the Tokyo Dome, coming out for a pinch in the eighth round. He’s 5-for-10 with three doubles, 4 RBIs and five walks for Japan (3-0), who’ve yet one more group match and can host the quarter-finals on Wednesday or Thursday. He also tallied 4 goalless innings.
Sasaki hit eight in 3 2/3 rounds and won. He allowed an undeserved run, two hits and two walks.
Sasaki pitched his sixteenth perfect game in Japanese Premier League history in April, then played eight perfect innings in his next start before being retired after 102 pitches. Last yr, he went 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA for the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines team, taking 173 in 129 1/3 rounds.
Rixon Wingrove had 4 RBIs in the inaugural match as Australia (2-0) beat China (0-3) 12-2 in seven-innings shortened courtesy of the 10-run pardon rule.
In Group B in Taichung, Boston’s Yu Chang scored in additional time in the second round of a Grand Slam to send hosts Taiwan (2-1) to a 9-5 victory over the Netherlands (2-1) and Panama (2-2) to win. 2:0 over Italy (1:2).
In the first game of Group C in Phoenix, Colombia defeated Mexico 5-4 in 10 innings when Jorge Alfaro scored from a mistake by defender Luis Urias.
As well as, Puerto Rico defeated Nicaragua 9-1 and Venezuela defeated the Dominican Republic 5-1 in Miami.