Amazing facts, figures from Classic's thrilling first full day

The first full day with all four World Baseball Classic pools in action provided plenty of excitement and fodder. Here’s a look at nine stats and facts from some wild games.

• Let’s start where we so often do when discussing the extraordinary: with Shohei Ohtani. He hit a grand slam in the second inning, then came up again later in that same frame and hit an RBI single. His five RBIs set a WBC record for a single inning. Japan’s 10-run second inning was the highest-scoring inning in Classic history.

• Of course, Ohtani also led off with a double in the first inning. It had a 117.1 mph exit velocity, the second-hardest hit ball across the last two Classics, the extent of tracking, behind only a 118.7 mph double … also by Ohtani on March 11, 2023.

• Japan went on to win, 13-0 in a mercy-rule shortened game. That marked the fourth-largest shutout victory in WBC history at the time, behind a 17-0 by the United States on March 10, 2006 and two 14-0 wins, one by Cuba on March 9, 2013 and one by Korea on March 8, 2009. Why do we say ‘at the time’? Because Chinese Taipei rebounded from the loss by doling out their own shutout victory on Saturday, winning, 14-0, and pushing Japan’s win to fifth on the list.

• Part of Chinese Taipei’s output came from a Stuart Fairchild grand slam. It was the third in Chinese Taipei World Baseball Classic history, tied with the US for second-most behind Korea’s four. There have already been three grand slams so far in this WBC. The only Classic with more was 2023, when there were four.

• Javier Sanoja hit a homer for Venezuela, which is competing in Pool D at loanDepot park. Homering at that venue is nothing new for Sanoja, who plays for the Marlins. He has six career MLB home runs and four of them have been in Miami. He became the second MLB player to homer in his home ballpark in the WBC (based on team that calendar year), joining Luis Arraez in 2023, also at loanDepot park, per Elias.

• The nightcap in Miami got off to a historic start, with Dominican Republic starter Cristopher Sánchez striking out four batters due to a dropped third strike. It was the first four-strikeout inning in WBC history.

• Brazil’s Lucas Ramirez, the son of Manny, hit the 10th leadoff homer in World Baseball Classic history. He was just 20 years and 49 days old. The only player in tournament history to homer at a younger age was Harry Ford in 2023, at 20 years and 19 days and 20 days as well. But one wasn’t enough. Ramirez tacked on another to become by far the youngest player in WBC history with a multi-homer game, surpassing Francisco Lindor at 23 years and 117 days in 2017.

• Youth was the name of the game for Brazil, which pitched 17-year-old Joseph Contreras, son of Jose, out of the bullpen. He induced an inning-ending double play from none other than Aaron Judge. Contreras, the youngest player in the tournament, became the fifth-youngest pitcher at the time of his WBC debut at 17 years and 304 days. He’s the youngest since a 16-year-old Daniel Missaki pitched in 2013, also for Brazil.

• Oneil Cruz came off the bench for the Dominican Republic and did what we have come to expect -- hit a jaw-dropping home run. At 450 feet and 116.8 mph off the bat, it was both the longest and hardest-hit home run in the last two WBCs. The only harder-hit batted balls of any kind: the two Ohtani doubles noted above.