TUCSON, Ariz. – As the sun set behind the North Catalina Mountains on a 71-degree evening in the desert, Colombia shut out Brazil 5-0 on the opening day of the second and final 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifier at the Kino Sports Complex at Veterans Memorial Stadium in front of 2,332 fans in attendance.
The game lasted two hours and twenty three minutes.
Brazil will play (1-0) Germany at 1 p.m. EST on Monday, March 3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium and Colombia will play (0-1) China at 8 p.m. EST.
Tomorrow Germany’s Tommy Sommer will start on mound, while Enzo Yusuke Sawayama toes the slab for Brazil in both teams’ second game of the 2025 WBCQ.
Rio Gomez will touch the bump tomorrow against China. China is coming off a 12-2 mercy rule loss in seven innings, a game in which they committed four errors. China will now have to contend with a tough Colombia lineup that has shown it can take advantage of defensive miscues.
Colombia starting pitcher Julio Teheran dominated in Sunday’s win, allowing only one hit, chucking six innings with no walks, striking out four batters, and dicing up 41 of 54 pitches for strikes.
“Me and Jair Camargo were on the same page and we executed during the game. The main thing when coming into the game is to throw strikes and be effective against Brazil’s offense,” Teheran said during the postgame press conference.
Colombia manager Jose Mosquera’s bullpen delivered a strong performance, with relievers Ezequiel Zabaleta, Revier Sanmartin and Pedro Garcia combining for three scoreless innings, allowing two hits, and five strikeouts.
“We have a solid bullpen with options going into the rest of the week with guys that have a lot of experience. Zabaleta and Garcia have high velocity in their fastball and that was the plan to go with those guys tonight in the first game of the qualifiers that we prepared for going into Sunday,” Mosquera said during the postgame.
Colombia is ranked at No. 13 in the World Baseball Rankings, which are published by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Brazil is ranked at No. 23, China is at No. 20 and Germany is at No. 17. Nicaragua ranked at No. 16 and Chinese Taipei ranked at No. 2 in the WBR, qualified for the 2026 WBC.
In the bottom of the second inning, Colombia struck first as Gio Urshela led off with a triple down the right-field line past the outstretched glove of Lucas Ramirez.
The next batter, Jair Camargo, hit a ground ball to Brazil second baseman Lucas Rojo with the infield playing back, bringing Urshela in to score and giving Colombia a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Brazil manager Daniel Yuichi Matsumoto decided to go to the bullpen and called on right-hander Tiago Da Silva to replace starting pitcher Bo Takahashi.
Takahashi threw 2.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, and striking out three batters while dialing in 40 pitches for 27 strikes.
Colombia extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when outfielder Brayan Buelvas drove an RBI single into left field, scoring Dilson Herrera to make it 2-0.
Brayan Buelvas makes it a 2-0 lead for Team Colombia ???? #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/Wc0BPKz1ER
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 3, 2025
Brazil did not record its first hit until the top of the sixth inning, when shortstop Vito Ito laid down a bunt single to Colombia first baseman Reynaldo Rodríguez, who couldn’t secure the glove flip, allowing Ito to reach safely.
Colombia kept adding on in the bottom of the sixth. Right fielder Jesus Marriaga ripped a line-drive double to right field, scoring Brayan Buelvas to make it 3-0.
“I felt like the offense was on point and we got the runs when we needed them. For me it was big to have the lead as a starter and when we got that first run it gave me confidence on the mound to hold their offense throughout the night,” Teheran said during the postgame.
A few moments later, Francisco Acuña laced a sharp line-drive double to left field, bringing in Marriaga and extending the lead to 4-0.
Colombia capped its scoring in the bottom of the seventh when Camargo came home on a wild pitch during Marriaga’s at-bat, stamping a 5-0 lead.
Pedro García entered in the top of the ninth and retired Brazil in order, striking out Lucas Ramírez for the final out to secure Colombia’s 5-0 win in the first game of the 2025 WBC Qualifier.