All Rise In Houston: Judge’s Early Blast & Webb’s Dominance Power Team USA Past Brazil

Team USA won their first game of pool play by a score of 15-5 against Team Brazil. They did it with a great offense and an excellent outing by Logan Webb.

Webb, in limited action, looked really good in his first start for Team USA. He pitched four innings, striking out six and giving up just one run, a leadoff home run to Lucas Ramirez, son of Manny Ramirez. His changeup was the X-factor in his outing, where he was able to generate whiffs and get some strikeouts. He also got outs with some help from Nicaragua, like pitch clock violations that led to strikeouts.

Michael Wacha looked sharp for his first two innings, but gave up three runs in the seventh inning to make the game a bit closer than Team USA wanted. He struck out four in his first two innings prior. 

Lefty Gabe Speier pitched the eighth inning, striking out two and giving up a solo home run to Lucas Ramirez, his second of the game.

Flamethrower Mason Miller locked down the bottom of the ninth inning for Team USA. After walking the leadoff batter, he struck out the side to end the game.

Team USA walked a total of 17 times in the game, a World Baseball Classic record.

In the meantime, let's review the most impactful plays from the game, per WPA via Baseball Savant:

3. Lucas Ramirez Homers off Logan Webb

After Team USA took a 2-0 lead, Lucas Ramirez took the second pitch Logan Webb threw into the seats for a solo home run. Lucas is the son of MLB legend Manny Ramirez, who was in attendance for the game. 

Ramirez was showing that there is still home run power in the family. The ball traveled 392 ft to right center field to cut Team USA’s lead to one, at the time. The home run was one of three for Team Brazil on the day. It was one of two for him, getting one later in the eighth inning. They came into the game as the small-ball team, but showed off their power stroke as well.

2. Judge Grounds into a Double Play

One of the underrated stories in the WBC was 17-year-old Joseph Contreras, the son of former big-league pitcher and world champion Jose Contreras. Contreras came in and did something he will never forget. He faced Aaron Judge with the bases loaded and only one out. He got Judge to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep Brazil in the game and avoid further damage.

Contreras is still in high school and represents the youngest player to play in the WBC since 2013. Yesterday, while the rest of the team was practicing and partying, he was doing homework. Today, he was getting MVP’s out in big spots. Baseball.

1. Aaron Judge’s Two-Run Home Run

Team USA and Yankees Captain Aaron Judge laid down the gavel in the first inning. He took a 3-0 center-cut 79.5 mph sweeper for a two-run home run.

It established that the USA was not going quietly. Team USA’s offense has never been the issue in past WBCs; rather, their pitching has been the issue, but Judge is their leader. Judge has been criticized throughout his career for not showing up in big moments. It showed that Judge can come up big on the world stage. He laid down the law early and set the precedent for the offense going forward.

Next:

Team USA will take on Team Great Britain in game two of their pool play. Reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will start for Team USA. Team Great Britain has not announced a starter. The game will take place at 8:00pm on FOX from Dalkin Park in Houston, Texas.