U.S. routs Cuba to reach World Baseball Classic final

MIAMI — Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the defending champion United States romped over Cuba 14-2 on Sunday night to reach its second straight World Baseball Classic final.

Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also homered for the Americans, who scored in seven of eight innings — putting up crooked numbers in five of them. Turner and Goldschmidt had four RBIs each.

The U.S. plays Japan or Mexico in Tuesday night’s championship, trying to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to win the title twice.

Turner, hitting No. 9 in the batting order, has a tournamentleading 10 RBIs.

He followed his go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam a night earlier against Venezuela with a solo homer in the second inning off Roenis Elias (0-1) and a three-run drive in the sixth against Elian Leyva.

Astros 2B Altuve out with fractured thumb

Twelve days before beginning their title defense, the defending World Series champion Astros sustained a seismic loss.

Superstar second baseman Jose Altuve fractured his right thumb during Team Venezuela’s quarterfinal loss in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday night and will undergo surgery “in the coming days,” general manager Dana Brown said.

Tests at the Astros’ spring training facility on Sunday morning confirmed the diagnosis, which will sideline Altuve indefinitely. Brown did not offer an exact timetable for Altuve’s return.

More clarity will arrive after Altuve has surgery later this week, Brown said.

“It’s a massive blow,” Brown said. “You can’t replace a player like this this close to the season. These players don’t exist. You just can’t go out and replace this type of a player.”

Rockies add Profar on 1-year, $7.75M deal

The Colorado Rockies agreed to a $7.75 million, one-year contract with free agent outfielder Jurickson Profar.

Profar can earn an additional $1 million in performance bonuses, getting the full amount for 400 plate appearances, the person said.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract was pending a physical.