Team USA defeated Team Great Britain 9-1 on Saturday night inside Daikin Park in World Baseball Classic Pool Play. The win moves the Americans to 2-0 in Pool B, while Great Britain falls to 0-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Making his only start of the tournament, Tarik Skubal made his much-anticipated appearance to begin this one. However, it was Great Britain grabbing the early momentum, as Nate Eaton homered off of Skubal to make it 1-0.
Great Britain turned to Tyler Viza, and he delivered a great start. Overall, he would go three scoreless innings to jump start the British team and keep their 1-0 lead.
After the solo homer, Skubal was dominant. He went three innings, striking out five and allowing just the one run. Clay Holmes followed Skubal and was equally dominant.
Great Britain carried their surprising lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. However, the USA broke through in that frame. They would score five runs, including two on a blast from Kyle Schwarber off of former Houston Astro Andre Scrubb. That gave the Americans a 5-1 lead after five innings.
In the sixth, Team USA added three more runs, with the main blow being an RBI single off the wall by Aaron Judge. Then, they added another run in the seventh when Alex Bregman drove in his second run of the game on a sacrifice fly. That gave the U.S. a 9-1 lead after seven frames.
The American bullpen was flawless in this game. David Bednar, Griffin Jax, and Brad Keller finished the game with three clean innings of work, clinching the 9-1 win.
BIG NUMBER: 21
In the first two games of the tournament, Team USA has scored 21 runs in the fifth inning or later. Conversely, they’ve only scored three total runs in inning one through four, including scoring zero here in the second game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kyle Schwarber
Schwarber’s majestic home run calmed a nervous energy after a slow start in this game. He figures to be an important piece of the American lineup for the rest of this event.
UP NEXT: Team USA continues Pool B play on Monday night at 7:00 PM when they face Team Mexico.