Canada suffers defeat to U.S. via mercy rule at World Baseball Classic
Canadians fall to 1-1 in Pool C after United States opens with 9-run 1st inning
Mike Trout hit a three-run homer, Lance Lynn threw five impressive innings and the United States used a nine-run first to cruise past Canada 12-1 on Monday night in the World Baseball Classic.
The game was called after seven innings because of the tournament's 10-run mercy rule.
The Americans sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning. Nolan Arenado had a two-run double to start the scoring and Trout finished it by belting a low fastball into the left-centre seats.
Lynn got the win, giving up one run and two hits while saving the bullpen for the team's final game of pool play against Colombia on Wednesday. United States manager Mark DeRosa had to use eight pitchers on Sunday in the loss to Mexico.
Canada scored its lone run on Jared Young's homer. Left-hander Mitch Bratt took the loss, giving up six earned runs while getting only one out.
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Puerto Rico pitchers perfect in 8-inning win vs. Israel
Jose De Leon and three relievers combined on a perfect pitching performance as Puerto Rico routed Israel 10-0 in a World Baseball Classic matchup called after eight innings Monday night because of the tournament's 10-run mercy rule.
Yacksel Rios, Edwin Diaz and Duane Underwood Jr. closed out the win for Puerto Rico, which did not permit a baserunner. But it will not count as a perfect game in official WBC records because the game didn't go a full nine innings.
That's the standard established by the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician for Major League Baseball.
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Still, it was a dominant bounce-back victory for Puerto Rico, a day after its late rally fell short in a disappointing 9-6 loss to Venezuela.
De Leon tied a WBC record with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander was lifted after he fanned Spencer Horwitz on his 64th pitch, one under the tournament limit for starting pitchers in the first round. He exited to a huge ovation from the prohibitive Puerto Rico crowd of 27,813 in Miami.
Francisco Lindor's two-run triple keyed a three-run fifth, and Kike Hernandez's run-scoring single in the eighth ended the game.
