The stars and stripes machine shows no mercy. In an exhibition of power at Daikin Park, the USA team beat Great Britain 9-1, consolidating its place at the top of Group B of the World Baseball Classic with a perfect 2-0 record.
Mexico and Italy follow with one win each; Great Britain and Brazil are at the bottom with a pair of defeats.
World Classic: U.S. ‘crushes’ Great Britain
In the game at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas, Great Britain took the lead thanks to Nate Eatoun, who homered on Tarik Skubal’s first pitch.
The U.S. offense woke up in the fifth chapter with a rally that began with Ernie Clement’s wild pitch, followed by Kyle Schwarber’s four-corner homer that brought in a run, and closed with Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer that pushed two more across the diamond to take a 5-1 lead.
One inning later, the barrage continued with sacrifice bunts by Alex Bregman and Will Smith and a single by Aaron Judge that put the Americans away 8-1 and sealed the 9-1 lead in the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Bregman.
The awakening of the U.S. offense came in the fifth episode with a five-run rally, crowned by Kyle Schwarber’s solo home run and Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer with the house full.
The MLB stars did not stop there: Aaron Judge and Alex Bregman (who produced two with sacrifice bunts) finished the scoring for the 9-1 final score.
Now, the U.S. prepares for the most anticipated clash of the sector this Monday against Mexico.
Italy whitens and puts pressure on
In the other group match, Italy had a dream debut with an 8-0 whitewashing of Brazil.
The power of the “Azzurri” was commanded by Dominic Canzone (Seattle Mariners) and an explosive Dante Nori (Phillies), who blew a double.
With this result, Italy provisionally tied with Mexico for second place in the group, while the Brazilians accumulated their second defeat of the tournament and sink to the bottom of the table along with the British.
In the next group matches, Brazil will play Mexico on Sunday and Italy will take on Great Britain.
The United States will be back in action in the World Baseball Classic on Monday, when it faces Mexico.
Filed under: USA vs Great Britain World Classic
With information from EFE
