Jose Bautista and Welington Castillo homered to help lead the Dominican Republic over Canada in their Pool C opener at the World Baseball Classic.
Castillo’s two-run home run was the big blow in a four-run second inning by the Dominican Republic. Canada trimmed the lead to 4-2 with single runs in the third and fifth innings. Their first run came off of a balk and their second on a double by Dalton Pompey.
The Dominican Republic answered right away in the home half of the fifth inning. Adrian Beltre made the score 5-2 with an RBI single. Bautista blew the game wide open with a three-run bomb in the sixth to make it an 8-2 game. They would add a final run in the seventh when Beltre scored on a throwing error by second baseman Pete Orr.
Freddie Freeman went 0-for-4 at the plate but was robbed of a hit on an excellent play by Manny Machado.
Don’t test Manny. #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/wEJwbDwucn
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Bautista went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in four runs for the Dominican Republic. Machado and Gregory Polanco finished with two hits each.
Canada’s next game will be against Colombia on Saturday.