U.S. routs Canada in WBC; Puerto Rico pitchers perfect Trevor Bauer signs with Japan’s Yokohama BayStars

PHOENIX – Mike Trout hit the top three homers, Lance Lynn threw five impressive innings, and the United States used nine first-run runs to sweep Canada 12-1 on Monday night at the World Baseball Classic.

The game was called out after seven innings due to the tournament’s 10-run mercy rule.

In Miami, José De Leon and three relievers teamed up with a flawless serve as Puerto Rico thrashed Israel 10-0 in a match called after eight innings due to the mercy rule.

Yaksel Rios, Edwin Diaz and others. Duane Underwood Junior completed a Puerto Rico win that kept out the baserunner. But it wouldn’t count as a perfect game in official WBC records because the game didn’t go the full nine innings.

This is the standard set by the Elias Athletic Bureau, Major League Baseball’s official statistics agency.

The US improved to 2-1 and bounced back from an 11-5 loss to Mexico on Sunday with the best offensive game of the tournament. Canada lost 1–1 in front of a crowd of 29,621 at Chase Field.

The Americans sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning. Nolan Arenado He had a double double to start the scoring and Trout ended it with a low fastball into the center left seats.

Lynn took the win, giving up one try and two hits while keeping a bullpen for the team’s final pool game against Columbia on Wednesday. US manager Mark DeRosa was forced to use eight pitchers on Sunday in a loss to Mexico.

Canada scored their only run on Jared Young’s homer. Left-hander Mitch Bratt took the loss, giving up six runs he had earned and winning just one.

PUERTO RICO 10, ISRAEL 0, 8 innings

MIAMI. Puerto Rico bounced back from a 9-6 loss to Venezuela the day before with a dominant performance.

De Leon set a WBC record with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, earning the win. The right-hander was raised after he fanned Spencer Horwitz on his 64th pitch, one short of the tournament limit for starting pitchers in the first round. He left to thunderous applause from an exorbitant Puerto Rican crowd of 27,813.

After that, he received a game ball and his teammates signed him.

Rios replaced De Leon and struck out his only batter to finish in sixth place.

With his team leading 9-0 in the seventh, Molina turned to New York Mets star Diaz closer and he beat one hitter 1-2-3 in the inning. Underwood retired Israel in order on 10 pitches in the eighth.

Javier Baez doubled up and Francisco Lindor tripled and singled out Puerto Rico, who finished with 11 hits and improved to 2-1.

Puerto Rico quickly hit Israeli starter Colton Gordon with a three-run first run. Baez made a double double and scored on Eddie Rosariodouble.

Quique Hernandez made it 5-0 with a two-run double in the second round and raced home on Emmanuel Riveratriple.

Lindor’s two-run triple run was a three-run fifth, and Hernandez’s eighth hitting single ended the game.

SOUTH KOREA 22, CHINA 2

TOKYO – Kungwu Park and Ha-sung Kim won Grand Slams in consecutive innings, and South Korea set a World Baseball Classic scoring record by beating China 22–2 in a game between already eliminated teams.

South Korea broke the run record that had stood since Japan beat China 18-2 in the first round of the original WBC in 2006.

In the previous Group B game, Australia defeated the Czech Republic 8-3 to advance to the quarter-finals against Cuba on Wednesday. The next day, Japan will play Italy in the second quarter-final.

In Group D, the Dominican Republic beat Nicaragua 6-1.

South Korea (2-2) finished third in Group B and failed to make it past the first round and become their third consecutive WBC World Champion. The South Koreans finished third in the first tournament in 2006 and second in 2009.

China (0-4) has never advanced beyond the first round. Last in the group means she will have to qualify to qualify for the 2026 tournament.

The South Koreans took a 4-2 lead with two seconds and then opened the game with eight runs in the third, six in the fourth and four in the fifth. The game was stopped after five innings, in accordance with the tournament’s mercy rule that games must end if a team leads by 15 runs after five innings or by 10 runs after seven.

Park had five RBIs, San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim had four, and South Korea’s Hyusong Kim and Jung Hoo Lee each had three RBIs to beat China 20-4. Park got his way in the fourth round against Hailong Sun and Ha-Sung Kim in the fifth against Chanlong Soo.

Winning pitcher Hyun Jun-seo entered the game to start the second inning and was eliminated by nine consecutive batters.

Losing pitcher Alan Carter, a Los Angeles Angels minor leaguer, allowed four runs, four hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.

BRITAIN 7, COLOMBIA 5

PHOENIX (AP) — Jayden Rudd did a good job by launching a double in the fifth inning, Harry Ford added a solo homer, and Britain won a WBC game for the first time.

Graham Speaker won by pitching 2 2/3 innings without a score, and Yang Zhibo earned a save. Yapson Gomez of Colombia, who conceded a double to Rudd in the fifth round, was defeated.

Dayan Frias had two hits and two RBIs for Colombia which fell to 1-1 in the tournament. Great Britain improved to 1-2.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 6, NICARAGUA 1

MIAMI (AP) – Stars San Diego Padres Juan Soto And Manny Machado homered, and the Dominican Republic took their first win in a WBC pool game.

Raphael Devers scored an RBI double with two strikeouts in the first match against a Nicaraguan starter JC Ramirezleads to Soto with a score of 1-0. Eloy JimenezThe only one in the second scored Soto again and gave the Dominicans a 2-0 lead.

Winning Pitcher Christian Xavier allowed only two hits and struck out four out of four innings.

The Dominican Republic (1-1) doubled their lead in the fourth round when Francisco Mejia scored against Fidencio Flores. Willie Adamsthen Julio Rodriguez decided to move in Jamer Candelario.

Soto hit in right field from Junior Tellez to make it 5–0 in the fifth, and Machado tagged Telles in the next inning, hitting right center.

Soto scored three runs. Machado also doubled in ninth place.

Nicaragua (0-3) made it 6-1 in the eighth on Elian Miranda’s single RBI loaded with bases. Ramirez accepted defeat.

AUSTRALIA 8, CZECH REPUBLIC 3

TOKYO (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers prospect Alex Hall picked up four RBIs as Australia (3-1) passed the first round for the first time in five WBC appearances, finishing second in the group behind Japan (4-0). The Czechs (1-3) finished fourth.

Logan Wade scored a decisive double with two runs from the right side of the field in seventh place from the underdog Marek Minarik, scoring Robbie Glendinning and Aaron Whitefield with the score 3-1.

Hall Homered in Martin Schneider’s first, only hit in 5 1/3 innings. Schneider was pulled out after 68 pitches, reaching the limit.

Erik Sogard had a draw single in the third match with Mitch Neunborn, which was scored by Petr Zima. Hall hit a two-run triple in the eighth and a high-scoring grounder in the ninth.

Marek Chlup had two singles in the eighth for the Czechs.

TOKYO – Trevor Bauer signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Japan Central League.

2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on January 12, three weeks after a referee reduced his suspension imposed by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 games to 194 games. The punishment followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher denied.

“Playing in the NPB has always been my dream and I can’t imagine a better organization to do so,” Bauer said in a statement Monday, referring to Nippon Professional Baseball.

The BayStars have stated that Bauer will wear the No. 96 uniform.

“To all BayStar fans: I’m thrilled to be able to be part of the great team we have this year and try to win a championship,” Bauer said. “And to all the Japanese baseball fans, I can’t wait to see you guys in the stadium soon. Please come say hello and help me learn more about your great country. See you guys soon!”

Bauer is owed about $22.5 million from the remainder of his three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers. The suspension cost him approximately $37.6 million in salary.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a San Diego woman alleges he beat and sexually assaulted her in 2021. Bauer claimed he did nothing wrong, saying that everything that happened between him and the woman was agreed upon.

Bauer has never been charged with a crime.

The Players Association filed a complaint on Bauer’s behalf, and a three-member panel led by Martin Scheinman ruled on December 22 that Bauer violated MLB policy and cut his pay for the first 50 games of 2023, covering part of the period the pitcher was on paid leave in 2021 and 22 years.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers ahead of the 2021 season and went 8–5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being sent on leave.

In February 2022, Los Angeles prosecutors decided not to charge Bauer with allegedly beating and sexually assaulting a San Diego woman, as they said they could not prove her allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

The woman, aged 27 at the time, said Bauer choked her unconscious, punched her repeatedly, and raped her during two sexual encounters.

The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.

Bauer said in a video posted to YouTube following the prosecutor’s decision that he and the woman engaged in rough sex at her suggestion and followed pre-agreed rules. According to him, each meeting ended with her spending the night at his house in Pasadena.

“The three disturbing acts and behaviors that she described just didn’t happen,” he said at the time.

The woman requested a restraining order, but the judge denied it. The judge found that Bauer respected a woman’s boundaries when…