We got our first ever walk-off home run in WBC history yesterday. Then we got our second ever walk-off home run a few hours later. Finally, we had our first real upset in Tokyo.
Pool A (San Juan):
Canada got its WBC journey off to a strong start with an easy 8-2 win over Colombia.
It was a big day for former Cubs for Team Canada. Owen Caissie opened up the scoring with a 403-foot two-run home run off of Rangers minor leaguer Austin Bergner. [VIDEO]
Meanwhile, Michael Soroka started
for Canada and got the win. He allowed one run on four hits over three innings. The one run came in the third inning when Mariners prospect Michael Arroyo singled home Tito Polo [VIDEO].
But Canada got that run back in the bottom of the third when former Red Sox minor leaguer Río Gómez walked Abraham Toro with the bases loaded. Gómez is a former Red Sox farmhand who pitched in Taiwan last year.
Canada extended the lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh on a single by Josh Naylor. Colombia closed again when Harold Ramírez doubled home Arroyo in the top of the eighth. [VIDEO]
Canada got to Mariners pitcher Guillo Zuñiga in the eighth, scoring four runs to put the game out of reach. This triple by Toro was a highlight. [VIDEO]
Puerto Rico 4, Panama 3 (10 innings)
Panama’s upset efforts were spoiled after Athletics infielder Darell Hernaiz hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th.
Panamanian starter Ariel Jurado hadn’t pitched in the majors since throwing for the Mets in 2020 and has pitched in KBO since 2023. But he befuddled an all-current major league Puerto Rico lineup for five scoreless innings. Jurado allowed three hits. He struck out four and walked no one.
Panama broke through with two runs in the top of the fifth inning on back-to-back RBI doubles by the Cubs’ Christian Bethancourt and 36-year-old Luis Castillo, an international veteran who hasn’t played in the US since reaching Double-A with the Tigers in 2013. Both doubles came off former Cubs reliever Jorge López.
Puerto Rico cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth on a Nolan Arenado sacrifice fly.
The score stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the ninth. Former Nationals reliever Alberto Baldonado got the last out of the eighth inning and came out for the ninth. After retiring the first batter, he walked Eddie Rosario and gave up a single to Mártin Maldonado. Panama was one out away from the upset when Baldonado retired Christian Vázquez on a fly to right. But then Maldonado walked both Matthew Lugo and Willi Castro to force in a run and send the game to extras.
In the top of the tenth, Panama took the lead on an RBI single by Yankees infielder José Caballero. [VIDEO]
Panama looked to tack on around run on a single by Cardinals minor leaguer Leonardo Bernal, but right fielder Carlos Cortes threw out Caballero at the plate. [VIDEO]
In the bottom of the 10th, Puerto Rico had runners on the corners and no outs. They tied the game on a double play ball by Cortes. That brought up Hernaiz, who hit the second walk-off of the day. [VIDEO]
Pool B (Houston)
Italy made its debut in the 2026 WBC with an easy 8-0 win over Brazil.
The game was scoreless through five innings and Brazilian starter Enzo Sawayama (who pitches in the Japanese minors) and Italian starter Sam Aldegheri of the Angels traded zeros. But Italy broke through against the Brazilian bullpen when Astros infielder Zach Dezenzo hit an RBI single and then Jac Caglianone doubled in another run. Dazenzo got thrown out at the plate. [VIDEO]
Phillies minor leaguer Dante Nori hit two solo home runs, one in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Later in the seventh inning, Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone hit a three-run home run that went 416 feet and landed in the upper deck. [VIDEO]
Nori’s second home run went 420 feet. [VIDEO]
United States 9, Great Britain 1
Great Britain jumped out to an early lead, but a Kyle Schwarber two-run home run in the fifth gave the US the lead and they never looked back.
Tarik Skubal was making his one appearance in the WBC in this game and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton took the first pitch he threw deep. [VIDEO] (Apparently Skubal is softening on his “just one start” position.)
Skubal was pretty good after than, allowing just two hits and striking out five over three innings.
The Great Britain starter, former Phillies farmhand Tyler Viza kept Team USA off the board for three innings. Viza pitched two years in Taiwan and two in Mexico since his last minor league game in 2022.
Viza had some help from former Cub Trayce Thompson, who robbed Will Smith of a home run. [VIDEO]
But after Viza exited, Team USA’s bats found their groove. Schwarber’s home run came as a part of a five-run fifth. Here are all five runs. [VIDEO]
The game was pretty much over after that. Team USA scored four more runs and three of them came on sacrifice flies. Two were hit by Alex Bregman and one was by Will Smith. The other run came on an RBI single by Aaron Judge.
Bregman was 1 for 3 with a double and two sacrifice flies. Pete Crow-Armstrong went 1 for 4 with a double and a walk.
Pool C (Tokyo)
Chinese Taipei 5, Korea 4 (10 innings)
In the first real upset of the tournament, Chinese Taipei edged Korea 5-4 in 10 innings.
Chinese Taipei scored first when former major league infielder Yu Chang hit a solo home run off of former Cy Young Award runner-up Hyun Jin Ryu. [VIDEO] Chang went 0 for 2 with a strikeout over his career in the majors against Ryu.
Chinese Taipei starter and NPB pitcher Ruei-Yang Gu Lin held Korea scoreless through four innings. But after Gu Lin allowed the first two batters of the fifth inning to reach via a walk and a single, he was pulled from the game. One of the runners he let on came around to score on a double play, which tied the game at 1-1.
In the top of the sixth inning, Chinese Taipei went back on top 2-1 on a solo home run by Tsung-Che Chen [VIDEO] who made his major league debut with the Pirates last year but is with Boston now.
Do Yeong Kim of the Kia Tigers reversed the lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning [VIDEO].
The see-saw nature of the game continued when Guardians outfielder Stuart Fairchild hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth. [VIDEO]
The struggle between these two teams wasn’t over, as Korea tied the game back up in the bottom of the eighth on a double by Do Yeong Kim [VIDEO]. The 22-year-old Kim plays for Kia and is considered by some to be the top MLB prospect in KBO.
The game went to extra innings and Chinese Taipei got the automatic runner home from second with two sacrifice bunts. Korea tried to tie the game in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice bunt which put a runner on third. But a ground ball to first by Hyeseong Kim wasn’t enough as Taiwan threw the runner out at the plate. After Do Yeong Kim flew out, Chinese Taipei completed the upset.
Chinese Taipei finishes pool play at 2-2. They still have a chance to advance to single-elimination play if Australia loses to both Japan and Korea and they get some help on tiebreakers.
The game was a scoreless tie for five innings, then the Australians pushed across a run in the top of the sixth on a throwing error by Japan’s catcher Kenya Wakatsuki after Australia’s Aaron Whitefield had stolen third base.
In the bottom of the seventh, Masataka Yoshida gave Japan the lead with a two-run homer. They extended their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth on a double by Teruaki Sato. Shohei Ohtani was the next hitter. Australia intentionally walked him, loading the bases.
That move backfired when Seiya Suzuki drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-1. [VIDEO]
That run turned out to be very, very important because Australia’s Alex Hall and Rixon Wingrove both hit solo homers in the ninth to make it a one-run game. But Japan’s Taisei Ota got Robbie Perkins to ground out to preserve a 4-3 win.
Japan’s victory clinched a spot for them in the quarterfinals. Australia can also advance if they defeat Korea on Monday.
Pool D (Miami):
Ozzie Albies hit the first ever walk-off home run in WBC history, as Nicaragua suffered heartbreak after being just one strike away from their first ever tournament win.
Starter Erasmo Ramírez gave Nicaragua five solid innings, giving up just one run on five hits. That one run came in the third inning when Ramírez hit Albies with the bases loaded.
Nicaragua tied the game 1-1 in the fifth inning when Rays reliever Kevin Kelly walked former Royal
Cheslor Cuthbert with the bases loaded.
Former Red Sox Jeter Downs, who played for the Softbank Hawks in NPB last year, put Nicaragua up 3-1 with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. [VIDEO]
It looked like Nicaragua was headed to their first WBC win ever. Manager Dusty Baker summoned Ángel Orbando, who had a short career in the Yankees minor leagues in 2018 and 2019, to get the save in the ninth. Orbando struck out Drew Jones and got a fly out from Ray-Patrick Didder. Next, Orbando had Ceddanne Rafaela down 0-2 before Rafaela stuck out his bat and blooped a fastball outside of the zone into short right-center for a single. That kept the Netherlands alive.
Next up, Xander Bogaert doubled off the third base bag. That set up the heroics by Albies. [VIDEO]
Luis Arraez homered twice and Eugenio Suárez once as Venezuela had little difficulty disposing of Israel, 11-3.
Venezuela jumped all over Mets pitcher Ben Simon for four runs in the top of the first inning and they never looked back. Luis Arraez had an RBI double, Salvador Perez singled him home and then Suárez hit a two-run home run. [VIDEO]
Arraez, of all people, went 4 for 5 with two doubles and two home runs.
Here’s the first home run. [VIDEO]
And here’s the second one, which came with two men on. [VIDEO]
