Canada overpowers Colombia behind Caissie, Soroka

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Canada was an early pick to make it out of Pool A of the World Baseball Classic in Puerto Rico and, well, in their first game on Saturday, they proved why.

Manager Ernie Whitt’s squad beat Colombia, 8-2, moving his country to 1-0 in the group stage. Owen Caissie hit a two-run homer and Michael Soroka set the tone on the mound with three solid innings to help Canada to a big opening win at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Colombia dropped to 0-2.

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The win gives Canada momentum heading into its game Sunday against Panama (7 p.m. ET, FS2) and puts Colombia at a sizeable deficit in pool play ahead of its Sunday game against Cuba (noon ET, FS2), where a loss could essentially spell elimination for the team.

"I was happy with the way we played," Whitt said postgame. "We grinded some at-bats out, some real good at-bats. Our pitchers threw strikes. That's what we want to do."

Caissie's second-inning homer opened the scoring and gave Canada a lead it never relinquished, as Soroka and five relievers held Colombia to just two runs on six hits. And Caissie's clout wasn't just any old homer, it was one that landed inside a Canadian flag ... held by a Canadian fan ... also named Owen.

"No, I didn't notice that," the Marlins' top prospect smiled. "But [the homer] gives the boys a little push start. It never really hurts. And to really just get on the board first in these tournaments really matters. Our game plan was short, but it worked."

Despite the lopsided final score, the game remained close until the bottom of the eighth, when Canada pushed across four runs -- highlighted by a run-scoring triple by Abraham Toro and an RBI single from Bo Naylor -- to put it away.

Colombia, meanwhile, has struggled offensively through its first two games of the tournament. The team, which was shut out in its first game against Puerto Rico on Friday, enters Sunday 1-for-17 (.059) with runners in scoring position and with 17 men left on base.

Missed opportunities again defined the team on Saturday. Things got off to a promising start when Mariners prospect Michael Arroyo led off the first inning with a single, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch with one out. But he was subsequently thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice.

Colombia started the tournament with 11 straight scoreless innings before getting on the board with a two-out RBI single by Arroyo in the third inning Saturday.

"The message is we still have work to do," Colombia manager Jose Mosquera said. "We can't hang our heads -- and [we] have to keep on competing because you can't just come to this kind of event and simply just stroll in. Nobody thinks like that. We want to compete. We want to play."

Offensive troubles aside, Colombia got more bad news Saturday when scheduled starter Julio Teheran was scratched moments before the game with a right shoulder impingement. The team called it a precautionary move and pivoted to righty Austin Bergner, who tossed two innings and allowed two hits, a walk and two runs. Mosquera said he found out about Teheran "five minutes before the game," and will monitor the situation -- hoping to maybe use him down the road.

"That was something that we weren't expecting, but that's just baseball," Mosquera said. "Sometimes we have to deal with situations like this. Especially coming from him, he's such a competitor, we know that he gives everything in the bullpen to be ready for a game."

Canada now gets over a full day of rest before Sunday night's tilt against Panama. It's the kind of start they wanted -- especially for a nation trying to get out of pool play for the first time in history. Whitt seems to be prepared for that to happen at this point, based on his answer when asked whether Soroka would get another shot here in Puerto Rico.

"I'm looking forward to his next start in Houston."