Judge, U.S. Start World Baseball Classic with Rout of Brazil The United States dominated Brazil in its opening game of the World Baseball Classic, posting a 15-5 victory at Daikin Park in Houston. Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Brice Turang drove in four runs with three hits to lead the American squad. The game, played on Friday night, marked the U.S. team’s debut in the tournament. Judge, the first player to commit to the U.S. team in April 2025, launched his home run in the first inning with one out and one runner on base against pitcher Bo Takahashi. Brazil’s Lucas Ramirez, whose father is 12-time All-Star Manny Ramirez, hit two home runs to keep the game competitive. Ramirez cut the U.S. lead to 2-1 with a leadoff homer in the first and later narrowed the gap to 8-5 with a solo shot in the eighth inning. At 20 years and 49 days old, Ramirez became the youngest player in WBC history to hit multiple home runs in a single game. The U.S. extended its lead in the third inning when Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch, pushing the score to 4-1. Turang then cleared the bases with a double to left field, making it 7-1. Brazil’s 17-year-old high school senior Joseph Contreras, the youngest player in the tournament, forced a bases-loaded double play against Judge to end the second inning. Despite Brazil’s efforts, the U.S. maintained control, with Lucas Rojo hitting an RBI single in the seventh and Victor Mascai’s two-run homer off Michael Wacha cutting the deficit to 7-4. Bryce Harper added an RBI single in the ninth inning, allowing the Americans to score seven more runs. The U.S. team walked 17 batters and forced Brazil to throw 221 pitches throughout the game. Brazil, making its second appearance in the WBC since 2013, fell to 0-4 in the tournament after losing to Japan, Cuba, and China in 2013.#judge #world_baseball_classic #brice_turang #daikin_park #bo_takahashi
