Suárez’s single lifts Venezuela
MIAMI — Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua 4-1 Tuesday and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.
Venezuela was in position to reach the quarterfinals with a game to spare if the Dominican Republic defeated Israel later Tuesday in a matchup of teams with 1-1 records in Group D.
Suárez’s two-run single capped a three-run fourth that overcame a 1-0 deficit. Andrés Giménez’s runscoring single tied the score, and Suárez’s lined a ball to right-center that scored Santander and Giménez.
Santander added an RBI double in the fifth.
José Ruiz got the win, pitching two perfect innings of relief.
Carlos Hernández, José Quijada, Silvino Bracho and José Alvarado followed and limited Nicaragua to four hits over the final five innings.
Brandon Leyton’s RBI groundout against starter Eduardo Rodriguez put Nicaragua ahead 1-0 in the second.
Rodriguez allowed seven hits and struck out three in two-plus innings.
Venezuela closes Group D against Israel on Wednesday.
Nicaragua finished 0-4 in its first WBC and will be forced to participate in qualifying for the 2026 tournament. The Nicaraguans hit .192 and and were outscored 22-4.
Canada 5, Colombia 0: Otto Lopez hit a three-run homer, Noah Skirrow threw five quality innings and Canada shut out Colombia. Canada led 1-0 going into the eighth inning, but Owen Caissie had a two-out, RBI single to push the lead to 2-0. Lopez’s three-run shot in the ninth gave them an even bigger cushion. Canada’s pitching staff gave up just five hits and one walk, bouncing back from a 12-1 loss to the United States on Monday. Colombia’s Oscar Mercado had two hits. Adrian Almeida took the loss, giving up one run over three innings. Canada first baseman and Dodgers star Freddie Freeman left the game in the fourth inning because of a hamstring injury. He ran gingerly out of the batter’s box after popping up in the third. Canada improved to 2-1 in Group C, while Colombia is 1-2.