Team USA Hit by Meneses Mauler Sunday night, Washington Nationals quarterback Joey Meneses smashed two homers and drove in five runs to lead Mexico to 11-5 World Classic Baseball Victory in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 47,534 at Chase Field.
Meneses, a 30-year-old traveling quarterback who played 10 years in minor leagues and 10 winter seasons in Mexico before breaking into the 2022 season with the national team, sent a 109-mile-per-hour screamer from a line thrust into the left field bench. San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Menaes arrived on the field and scored in the third period to take a 3-1 lead. Then first baseman Randy Aruzzarena’s RBI doubles and Alex Verdugo Walk off a towering three-run homer to let Kansas City Royals right-hander Brady Singer leave the field for a 7-1 lead in the fourth.
930 on-plus, 13 homers and 34 RBIs in 56 games for Washington last season, peppered his second rainmaker shot off the bat, hurling his wood about 20 feet in the air in front of Mexico’s first-base dugout while teammates – Including Dodgers lefties Julio Urillas – wild gold.
Urias and Meneses, both from Culiacán, have known each other since they were boys, but they have not played together because Meneses is four years older than Urias (26).
Meneses starred as los Tomateros de Culiacán at the Winter’s Ball for years. Llorías said last year that he wanted to end his career with Los Tomateros.
Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval threw three innings in one run, two touchdowns, and Chicago Cubs right-hander Javier Assaad threw three scoreless innings, one-hit to help Mexico improve to 1-1 in Pool C. Team USA was relegated to 1-1, making his way to the WBC quarterfinals in Miami even more treacherous.
Canada and Colombia are both 1-0. The United States can clinch a spot for Miami with wins over Canada on Monday night and Colombia on Wednesday night.
A battle between his Angels teammates ended in a tie, with Sandoval hitting Team USA quarterback Mike Trout who looked a slider down in the first inning and Trout drawing a one-out walk to cap off a nine-pitch bat in the third.
Trout missed three full-count sliders in the third inning, all down and in, before taking a fastball up for the fourth. Sandoval escaped further damage by hitting No. 3 hitter Paul Goldschmidt with a bad slide and having cleanup Nolan Arenado ground out with a short run, keeping the lead 3-1.
Sandoval scored two and walked two in his 55-pitch start, yielding his only run when Kyle Tucker hit a triple into right cornerback and scored on Tim Anderson’s single to right in the second.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith W Austin Barnes They also squared off against each other with Barnes, who plays for Mexico, and stole second base from Smith in the sixth inning. Smith hit a single to the left to cut Mexico’s lead to 7-2.
Mexico pulled off four more runs off Colorado’s closer Daniel Bard in the eighth on Arzarena’s RBI double, a two-run Rudy Tellez and Luis Urías’ RBI single, pushing the lead to 11–2 and Bard chased after he threw 33 runs in the inning.
The USA responded with a three-run run in the bottom of the eighth on Bobby Witt Jr.’s RBI double and Anderson’s two kick double, but Smith pulled deep into center with runners on second and third to end the inning.
This story originally appeared Los Angeles Times.
