Arraez's surprise pop (2 HRs!) sets Classic mark in Venezuela's romp over Israel

MIAMI -- After watching Luis Arraez drive in two runs for Venezuela in its opening win, Willson Contreras wanted the world to know what he thought of his teammate.

“Arraez is a great player,” Contreras said of Arraez, who owns a .317 career average and only 36 home runs. “He was born, I would say, in the wrong time, but it's true: Luis Arraez is a great hitter. I just wanted to say that.”

Arraez may not have the power to match some of his big league counterparts, but the three-time batting champ flexed his muscles Saturday night, belting two home runs to pace Venezuela’s 11-3 win over Israel at loanDepot park.

Arraez finished the night 4-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored, helping Venezuela to a 2-0 start as it attempts to advance beyond Pool D.

“He’s going to have some power occasionally; he just needs to have the confidence,” Venezuela manager Omar López said. “In this type of event, he's the type of guy that is going to show up. He can change the game with one swing.”

It was Arraez’s second career multi-homer game in a World Baseball Classic, making him the first player in history to accomplish that feat more than once.

“Wearing this jersey,” Arraez said, “I'm very proud of that.”

Arraez has only one multi-homer game in 840 career Major League games; ironically, Arraez’s only two-homer game in the Majors came at this very ballpark, where both of his WBC multi-homer games also took place.

Through two games, Arraez is 5-for-8 with two home runs, two doubles, five runs scored and seven RBIs.

“It was kind of the Luis Arraez show today,” Israel manager Brad Ausmus said. “He's normally more of an average-type hitter, but he was driving the ball today. … It was just all Luis Arraez.”

Venezuela (2-0) resumes play Monday against Nicaragua at 7 p.m. ET on FS2, while Israel (0-1) will look for its first win of this year’s Classic on Sunday against Nicaragua at 7 p.m. ET on Tubi.

The Venezuelan fans had plenty to cheer about early, as Arraez’s double scored Ronald Acuña Jr. for a 1-0 lead. Salvador Perez added an RBI single to double the lead, then Eugenio Suárez made it 4-0 with a towering home run that hit the facing of the left-field bleachers, landing in the Venezuelan bullpen.

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“The big first inning hurt us a ton,” Ausmus said. “If we could have gotten out of there with two runs, you feel like you're in the fight.”

It looked like it might be a long night for Israel – or a short one, given the WBC’s “early termination” rule for large leads. Suárez’s homer knocked Israel starter Ben Simon out of the game, but Israel’s bullpen calmed things down as Charlie Beilenson and Jordan Geber kept Venezuela from adding to its lead through the fourth.

The only problem? Venezuela starter Enmanuel De Jesus was dominating Israel’s lineup, retiring the first 14 batters he faced.

“It was just all Venezuela,” Ausmus said. “They outhit us, they outplayed us, they outpitched us.”

Garrett Stubbs’ two-out triple in the fifth gave Israel its first baserunner, then Matt Mervis ended the shutout with an RBI infield single that scored Stubbs. De Jesus got through the fifth without any more damage, finishing his night with five innings of one-run ball, setting a new Venezuela WBC record with eight strikeouts.

“An unforgettable experience for me,” De Jesus said. “Playing in front of our crowd, having the chance to have the Venezuela jersey on, it’s electric.”

Arraez and RJ Schreck traded solo shots as Israel stayed within three runs, but Venezuela busted out for five runs in the sixth to break things open. Arraez delivered the big blow, a three-run homer against lefty Rob Kaminsky, giving him four career WBC home runs, second behind Miguel Cabrera (6) all-time for Venezuela.

“Luis represents a lot to us in the lineup,” Suárez said. “We know that he's a great hitter, and to see his achievements is something very special.”