Yoelkis Gilbert and Yoan Moncada homered in the first three innings to lift Cuba to a 3-1 win over Panama in both teams’ Pool A opener of the World Baseball Classic Friday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Ariel Martinez added two hits for Cuba, which had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Johan Camargo plated Panama’s only run with a seventh-inning single. Leonard Bernal (2-for-4) was the team’s only player with multiple hits and scored the run.
Livan Moinelo registered the win, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in his start. Raidel Martinez recorded the save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Logan Allen took the loss for Panama, allowing three runs on five hits in three innings while fanning five.
Venezuela 6, Netherlands 2
Willson Contreras’ two-run single highlighted a four-run fifth inning that proved to be the difference for Venezuela against the Netherlands during a Pool D opener in Miami.
Javier Sanoja homered for Venezuela, which also got a pair of RBIs from Wilyer Abreu and a pair of runs and a double from leadoff man Ronald Acuna Jr. Ranger Suarez was the winning pitcher, allowing one run on three hits over two innings.
Druw Jones, the son of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Andruw Jones, accounted for both of the Dutch RBIs with a run-scoring double and a sacrifice fly. Antwone Kelly was the losing pitcher, allowing two runs and four hits over three innings.
Mexico 8, Great Britain 2
Jonathan Aranda hit a homer to spark a late rally that saw Mexico plate seven runs over the final two innings to run away from Great Britain in a Pool B opener in Houston.
Aranda had two hits and three RBIs for Mexico, which also got a homer from Nacho Alvarez Jr. and a two-run single from Alek Thomas. Javier Assad (3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K) was excellent in his start, but Robert Garcia collected the win with a scoreless seventh inning.
Harry Ford sparked the British team with two hits, which included a solo homer in the sixth to forge a 1-1 tie. Trayce Thompson added an RBI double in the ninth. Gary Gill Hill took the loss as he allowed the first two runs in Mexico’s three-run eighth. He struck out, walked two and allowed no hits over 1 2/3 innings.
