Good news for the Cubans: they achieved their first victory in the World Baseball Classic, and not just an easy win, but a 13-4 thrashing of Panama. The Cuban offense connected 21 hits and Panama only 9.
With this loss, the Panamanians have a 1-2 record along with Cuba. Panama will face Italy on Friday night and Cuba has a game on Saturday evening against Taipei.
Japan defeated South Korea 13-4 on day 2 of the competition, accumulating their second win in the tournament. Meanwhile, Italy, coached by legend Mike Piazza, was unable to earn its second win and fell to the hosts, Taipei, 7-11.
This weekend will be very busy: the U.S. team will defend its title six years after winning the trophy for the first time by going up against Great Britain. Mike Trout, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, among others, are part of the star-studded roster of this team, which will play its first game on Saturday in Phoenix. Mark DeRosa, who played 16 seasons in the majors, will lead the team.
Led by Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, Mexico is one of the favorites to advance to the next round due to its major league players, such as Jose Urquidy of the Astros and naturalized Mexican Cuban-born Randy Arozarena, who plays for Tampa Bay. Benjamin Gil is the manager of the Mexican National Team that is participating for the second time in the World Baseball Classic. Mexico will face Colombia as their first opponent. Their goal for this World Baseball Classic will be to advance to the second round, as they could not get past the first round in their 2017 debut. That won't be an easy feat, however, as Colombia has some great ballplayers of their own like Nabil Crismatt and Jose Quintana, to name a few.
Another Group C participant is Canada, led by Freddie Freeman, a Dodgers first baseman born in California but with Canadian-born parents. He is one of three players on the team not born in Canada, and the only one born in the United States. Sunday is Canada's first game in the tournament, challenging Great Britain.
