Great Britain pitcher Vance Worley, right, exits during the third inning of the team’s World Baseball Classic game against the United States at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sun Mar 12, 2023 (AP News photo)

Can. 18 17 0. (7 innings)

Sun March 12, 2023

Attendance::11,555

Time: 3:38

By Lewis Rubman

PHOENIX–Team Canada made its 2023 World Baseball Classic debut this afternoon by dominating Great Britain, 18-8, in a game (I won’t call it a contest) that ended after 6-1/2 innings of play. This was in accordance with the WBC’s mercy rule.

Once more, the British jumped to an early, unsuspected lead, but today they held it a bit longer than it took them to blow last night’s advantage.Once more, the reliever corps saw a lot of action. Here’s a list of the relief pitchers used by each team:

Canada: Philip Aumount, Evan Rutckuj, Curtis Taylor, John Axford, and Matt Brash; Great Britain: Camrin Opp, McKenzie Mills, Andre Scrubb, Donovan Benoit, Joseph King, and Alex Webb.

Neither team’s starting pitcher made it to the end of the first frame. Canada’s Cal Quantrill struggled mightily and unsuccessfully with his control and left after 2/3 of a frustrating inning, in which he surrendered three runs, all earned, on two hits, four walks and a strike out.

The battery of Quantrill and Bo Naylor also permitted four stolen bases before the former’s departure. Quantril threw 37 pitches, 20 of them balls, and left the game with an ERA of 40.50.

Great Britain’s starter, Akeel Morris also had an exceedingly brief tenure on the mound. His 32 pitches were evenly divided among balls and strikes. All five of the runs he allowed were earned, and they came on four hits, one of which was a leadoff home run by Edouard Julien that traveld 401 feet into the right field seats and came off Morris’ initial offering.

It would be painfully prolix to record all the scoring in this wild and wooly mismatch. There weren’t any highlights, although there were a few bright sports and noteworthy items. Here are are some of them:

• Julien’s first pitch of the game blast. • Owen Cassie’s inside the park home run to center to lead off the home third, which put Canada up, 7-5. It was 10-7 by the end of the frame. • Since they say there’s always a local angle, Harry Ford, the Modesto Nuts’ catcher, went one for three, including a three run round tripper to left center in the fourth that enabled. Great Britain, to shrink Canada’s lead to 10-8. • Matt Brash’s three batters faced, three batters fanned top of the seventh.

Look for tighter play and a closer score in a little less than three hours, when the 1-0 USA goes against the 0-1 team from Mexico. The Dodger lefty Patrick Sandoval will be a the mound for the Mexicans, and Padres righty Nick Martínez will do the same for the USA. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 this evening.