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World Baseball Classic Morning Recap: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits home run in statement win over Venezuela
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Photo credit: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 13, 2026, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 13, 2026, 06:41 EDT
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On Wednesday, group stage action at the World Baseball Classic wrapped up with three massive games.
Canada faced Cuba to determine who’d move to the knockout stage from Pool A, Mexico and Italy played against one another to determine the fate of three teams from Pool B, and two giants clashed in Pool D to determine that group’s winner.
In this edition of the World Baseball Morning recap, we’ll look at three games and preview the quarterfinal matchups that’ll take place on Friday and Saturday. Let’s begin!

Canada 7, Cuba 2

It’s safe to say that Wednesday’s game against Cuba was the biggest game in Canada’s National Team history. A win would (and did) send them to their first knockout stage, but it also allowed them to finish first in the group. On the other hand, a loss would have sent them home.
They obviously won. Owen Caissie hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the third to give Canada a 1-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, Abraham Toro hit another clutch run, a solo homer to make it 2-0. Cuba answered back in the bottom of the fifth.
Still a close game, Canada needed insurance runs, and they got that courtesy of a handful of defensive mishaps on the part of Cuba. In the top of the sixth, Bo Naylor drove in a run with a double, then former Toronto Blue Jay Otto López hit a two-run single for a 5-1 lead.
Cuba added a run in their half of the sixth, but Canada added a run in both the eighth and the ninth for the victory. Blue Jays’ prospect Adam Macko picked up a huge strikeout in the bottom of the sixth, stranded the bases loaded. Yariel Rodríguez was tagged for four runs, albeit only one was earned as he struck out four. Cuba’s defence let him down in the top of the sixth.

Italy 9, Mexico 1

Coming into the Mexico and Italy showdown on Wednesday, there were a handful of outcomes that could’ve seen two of Mexico, Italy, or the United States make the knockout stages. The simplest pathway was achieved, as Italy smacked Mexico 9-1.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a home run for Italy in the top of the second, then former Blue Jay Jon Berti hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth. The United States officially punched their ticket to the knockout stages as Italy scored the necessary five runs for the tiebreaker.
They then added one run in each of the next two innings, before Mexico got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. With so few outs remaining, a comeback was improbable at that point, and it didn’t help Italy scored two more runs in the top of the eighth in a 9-1 victory.
Italy, the surprise of the tournament, went 4-0 in group stage play. They picked up two massive wins against the United States and Mexico. As for Blue Jay Alejandro Kirk, his World Baseball Classic is over, as he went 1-4 in this game and hit .267 with an .800 OPS.

Dominican Republic 7, Venezuela 5

Both Venezuela and the Dominican Republic had already punched their ticket into the knockout stages, but this game determined who will play Japan (with a loss) and who will play Korea (with a win).
The DR started it off with a two-run homer in the top of the first courtesy of Juan Soto, before Willson Contreras hit an RBI single to cut DR’s lead in half. Ketel Marte hit a solo home run in the top of the third, followed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s second home run of the tournament to make it 4-1.
Venezuela scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, making it a 4-3 game, but Fernando Tatís Jr. hit a three-run home run to give the Dominican Republic a 7-3 lead. It took until the bottom of the ninth for Venezuela to get back on the board, as they scored two runs thanks to a sacrifice fly and fielder’s choice.
It’s a fair argument to say that Guerrero Jr. was the Dominican Republic’s best player, as he went 3-4 with a home run and an RBI. Andrés Giménez appeared in this game as a pinch hitter, going 0-2.

Setting up quarterfinal action

With the group stage done and over with, the quarterfinals have been decided. Thanks to defeating Venezuela, the Dominican Republic will face South Korea on Friday at 6:30 PM ET. Guerrero Jr. will obviously be in the lineup, and he’ll face former teammate Hyun Jin Ryu.
Although Canada won their group, they got a tough matchup against one of the favourites of the tournament, as they’ll face the United States. They’ll look to pull off an upset similar to 2006, with Michael Soroka starting for Canada and Logan Webb starting for the US. This game has a start time of 8:00 PM ET.
Saturday’s two matchup will feature one game without a Blue Jay, and a game with two Blue Jays. First up is a showdown between Puerto Rico and Italy at 3:00 PM ET. Seth Lugo is set to get the ball for Puerto Rico, while Italy’s starter is yet to be determined.
Due to the loss, Venezuela has the much tougher matchup in Japan. Both Kazuma Okamoto (Japan) and Andrés Giménez (Venezuela) should factor into this game in some capacity, as it has a start time of 9:00 PM ET. Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball for Japan.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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