SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Canadians were so excited ahead of the opening game of the World Baseball Classic that Michael Soroka rushed out of the dugout for the first pitch and had to leave the field at the signal. Game officials chatted with Josh Naylor and Tyler O’Neill by the dugout, the managers came out to exchange lineups at home plate, and only after formalities could the festivities begin.
When they finally did, the Naylor brothers set the tone with their defensive play, with Soroka settling in and Owen Caissie delivering a key early blow with a two-run home run before the offense added late in Saturday’s win over Colombia.
Canada rolled after canceling a last-minute pitching change, while their Pool A rivals played against Texas Rangers farmhand Austin Bergner and former big leaguer Julio Teheran. The club said he was suddenly diagnosed with a shoulder impingement during warm-up.
In any event, the result left Team Canada with Jameson Taillon on the ball ahead of Sunday’s game against Panama, and Team Colombia suddenly down 0-2.
Of course, fate can change quickly because small sample sizes are unpredictable in mid-spring. That’s why the Canadians will be most pleased with the repeatable elements of their opening win: strong work on the field, throwing strikes on the mound, and tenacious at-bats.
The Colombians helped some of that, squandering a promising first opportunity. Michael Arroyo advanced to third with one out and advanced on Reynaldo Rodriguez’s grounder to first base. Josh Naylor got it clean and easily delivered the second out to his brother at home, and Bo Naylor threw out Rodriguez attempting a steal of second to end the frame.
Undeterred, Columbia tested the Cleveland Guardians’ catchers again in the next inning, ending the inning with two consecutive outs when Jesus Marriaga fell comfortably.
Canada rolled to a second when Abraham Toro hit a hustle double dunk to left field and was later called out. Caissie sent a hanging curveball from Bergner’s 403 feet to right field directly into a pair of fans holding Canadian flags.
Soroka, making his long-awaited return to the senior national team, gave up one run in the third inning on Arroyo’s RBI single, but Canada gave up one run in the bottom half on Toro’s bases-loaded walk, and in the seventh he scored on Josh Naylor’s RBI single off Denzel Clark’s RBI single by Marigar, who dropped a fly ball to right on an error at second base.
However, the Canadians made more runs that inning due to a delayed double steal. That resulted in Edouard Julien being thrown out at home, and in the eighth inning, Clarke furiously relayed Harold Ramirez’s double to prevent a possible out at the plate when Arroyo fell near the dirt.
Colombia took the lead off Micah Ashman, but manager Ernie Whitt turned to Royals prospect Eric Cerantola, who threw three consecutive sliders to Gio Urshela to avoid the jam.
Canada doubled down in the second half when Tyler Black walked, advanced to second and third on a throwing error by catcher Daniel Vellojin, and easily scored on Toro’s triple to right-center field. Bo Naylor singled, Clarke added a sacrifice fly, and O’Neill added a bases loaded walk to really add to the advantage.
This gave Cerantola a lot more breathing room than when he joined, recording two more outs before Phillippe Aumont got the final out, capping off a solid pitching performance that included three scoreless frames in the middle innings from Noah Skirrow.
