Turner's slam lifts U.S. to win over Venezuela
Trea Turner hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning that lifted the United States over Venezuela 9-7 Saturday night and into the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
The defending champion U.S. will face Cuba tonight for a spot in the WBC final against Japan or Mexico. St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright will start for the U.S. against Cuba.
Venezuela second baseman and Houston Astros star Jose Altuve left the game in the fifth with a right hand injury after he was hit by a pitch from Daniel Bard. The Astros said there will be an update on his status today.
Trailing 7-5, the United States loaded the bases in the eighth on a walk, single and hit by pitch against losing pitcher Jose Quijada. Silvino Bracho relieved and then Turner, the No. 9 batter in the U.S. lineup, sent his 0-2 changeup 407 feet to deep left field for the third grand slam in American WBC history.
U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said Saturday's win was one of the three greatest games he's ever been a part of — including winning the World Series with the San Francisco Giants in 2010.
“I told the guys before the game, I wanted to match their passion,” said DeRosa, who once played for
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
U.S. 9, Venezuela 7
Cuba vs. U.S., 4 p.m., FS1
Japan vs. Mexico, 4 p.m. CHAMPIONSHIP the Venezuelan professional team Leones del Caracas. “I had played over there. I had been a part of that, coming out of the dugout and jumping around ... When Trea clipped that ball, honestly, I saw about 35 guys, including the coaches, kind of black out and lose their minds for a minute. So it was just an awesome moment.”
David Bednar, the fifth of seven U.S. pitchers, got the win. Ryan Pressly got three straight outs for the save.
Luis Arraez, playing in the ballpark that he'll soon call home with the Miami Marlins, had the first multihomer game of his professional career and drove in four runs for Venezuela.
The U.S. is in the top six in the tournament in batting average (.296), RBIs (34) and hits (48), and every American starter had a hit against Venezuela, which had gone 4-0 in group play.
“Unfortunately, this is baseball,” Venezuela manager Omar López said. “We have to accept this and as men we have to keep our heads up. It is not easy, especially when they came back in the game.”
Venezuela took a 6-5 lead in a four-run fifth after Ronald Acuña Jr.'s sacrifice fly to deep center field.
Salvador Perez drove in the tying run with a linedrive double.
Arraez hit a two-run drive to right field in the first and added another in the seventh to give Venezuela a two-run lead. Arraez, the reigning AL batting champion, was traded to the WBC host Miami Marlins this offseason after four seasons in Minnesota.
Bard replaced U.S. starter Lance Lynn with a 5-2 lead in the fifth and loaded the bases with two walks, an infield hit and the pitch that injured Altuve.
Bard was pulled after Gleyber Torres scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Venezuela added its last three runs against Jason Adam, who managed to get out of the inning in 10 pitches.
The U.S. hit five straight singles to start the game. Mookie Betts led off the first with an infield single, then the speedster raced from first to third on Mike Trout's single to center, scoring when he forced a throwing error by Acuña.
Kyle Tucker homered for the U.S. off Astros teammate Luis Garcia.
On a gorgeous, sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Newport Beach Country Club, the leaderboard was a virtual revolving door during the second round of the 2023 Hoag Classic.
Eight different players had at least a share of the lead, including a six-way tie at the top at one juncture during the back nine, before 45-time PGA Tour Champions winner Bernhard Langer emerged as the 36-hole leader after playing the final five holes in 5-under par.
During an up-anddown round in which he made three bogeys, Langer shot a 5-under 66 for a two-round total of 12-under par, one shot ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez (67 on Saturday) and Doug Barron (66). Newport Beach resident Fred Couples, a twotime Hoag Classic champion, is two shots back at 10-under after backto-back 66s, and tied for fourth with Brian Gay (65 on Saturday).
Langer, 65, will be in the final group with Jimenez and Barron in today's final round as he chases his 46 th career Champions title, which would break a tie with fellow World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin.
Is he looking ahead to the possibility?
“No . . . not going to go there until the last hole or two if it happens,” Langer said after Saturday's round. “I've got a lot of work to do, a lot of golf to be played yet. There's no point of dreaming about it at this point.”
With the field taking advantage of ideal scoring conditions, rainsoftened greens and liftclean-and-place rules