Puerto Rico shuts out Colombia in their opening matchup at World Baseball Classic

[p]It's the team's first win in their stadium at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan since 2013. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/puerto-rico/v7R43VK7/"]Puerto Rico[/a] ace [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lugo-seth/rXM9T4M0/"]Seth Lugo[/a] earned the win after going four scoreless innings, giving up three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/z5A5Ioq8/"]Colombia[/a]'s ace [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/quintana-jose/2Lkzsgad/"]Jose Quintana[/a] tossed a no-hitter with one walk and three strikeouts to give Colombia a fighting chance at the start of the game, but it all crumbled in the fifth.[/p][p]Both teams had just five hits each, with Colombia's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ramirez-harold/ph1Aq0QN/"]Harold Ramirez[/a] recording three of theirs, with five separate players recording one hit for Puerto Rico - all of them in the fifth inning.[/p][p]Colombia's next matchup is scheduled against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/8dIZ5DLr/"]Canada[/a] on March 7th at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, with Puerto Rico set to face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/panama/0GS04B51/"]Panama[/a] later that day at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.[/p][embed guid="e9408c22-b02e-49b1-a7a1-544df21799ab" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2030098576894779454?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Recap and highlights[/h2][p]One of the best fielding highlights of the entire day during the WBC came from Puerto Rico third baseman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arenado-nolan/lA3NHbnk/"]Nolan Arenado[/a]. [/p][p]The 10x Gold Glove winner and six-time Platinum Glove winner showed everyone why he earned every one of those awards. However, he would finish the game 0-for-4 at the plate.[/p][embed guid="2527825d-b7a2-41ea-a659-eaace1b0f5ec" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2030061187891695727?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]After both teams had a 1-2-3 first inning, Puerto Rico found themselves in a hole during the bottom of the second. [/p][p]They had runners on second and third with two outs.[/p][p]But Lugo showed why he's an MLB pitcher and got out of the jam unscathed for the game's first nail-biting moment. [/p][embed guid="adad8e15-d385-4683-a3eb-2fd841b085eb" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2030066759546372129?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Colombia had a chance to strike in the bottom of the fourth. After [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/solano-donovan/G8eZ3G69/"]Donovan Solano[/a] flew out to right field, Ramirez would pick up his first hit with a single. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/urshela-giovanny/UZs3HCVF/"]Gio Urshela[/a] would pick up his only hit of the night, going 1-for-1 with two walks, putting runners on first and second with one out. But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinez-carlos/4S0xOQmm/"]Carlos Martinez[/a] would ground out into a double play that would end the inning[/p][p]Then...the top of the fifth inning came, and Puerto Rico unloaded for five runs on five hits - never recording another one the rest of the game.[/p][embed guid="c0654ce1-bd27-4b83-aae0-3bdbf1d95fb7" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFXpZKePBDw" social-type="youtube" /][p]From then on, it was all zeros for Puerto Rico. Colombia didn't allow a single hit the rest of the way, even out-hitting Puerto Rico 6-5 in the end. [/p][p]But Puerto Rico's pitching was equally as dominant, ending with nine strikeouts in nine innings. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/almeida-adrian/zqQKt6F4/"]Adrian Almeida[/a] (COL) gave up all five runs, three earned, and took the loss in the game. [/p][p]Then, it was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-edwin/OEvYedeF/"]Edwin Diaz[/a], MLB Reliever of the Year, who came and closed it out in his home ballpark. [/p][embed guid="6ca4853c-ea94-4f23-9225-1ee06547b910" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2030103564907864212?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]