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Aaron Judge wasted no time hitting his first World Baseball Classic home run.
Judge, the captain of Team USA, hit a two-run homer in the first inning, while Brice Turang had three hits and four RBIs to lead Team USA to a huge victory over Brazil in their World Baseball Classic opener Friday night.
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Cal Raleigh #29, Byron Buxton #25 and Roman Anthony #3 of the United States celebrate after scoring on a double hit by Brice Turang #13 of the United States in the fifth inning against Brazil during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool B game between the United States and Brazil at Daikin Park on March 6, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
There was an out and back in the first when Judge, the first player to commit to the team last April, joined Bo Takahashi at Daikin Park in Houston.
Lucas Ramirez homered twice for Brazil in the presence of his father, 12-time All-Star Manny Ramirez. He cut the lead to 2-1 with his first homer, and his solo shot in the eighth put Brazil within 8-5.
Aaron Judge #99 of the United States celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning against Brazil during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool B game between the United States and Brazil at Daikin Park on March 6, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
At 20 years and 49 days old, he became the youngest player in WBC history with a multi-homer match.
Byron Buxton was hit by a shot in the fifth period to increase the Americans’ lead to 4-1. Turang cleared the bases with his double to left field two pitches later to make it 7-1.
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Brice Turang #13 of Team USA hits a three-run double in the fifth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool B game presented by Capital One between Team USA and Team Brazil at Daikin Park on Friday, March 6, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photos by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB via Getty Images)
Brazil is competing in the WBC for only the second time and the first time since 2013. The team fell to 0-4 all-time in the tournament after losing to Japan, Cuba and China in 2013.
Another highlight for Brazil came when 17-year-old high school senior Joseph Contreras forced Judge into a bases-loaded double play to end the second inning. Contreras, the youngest player in the WBC this year, is the son of pitcher José Contreras, who played 11 seasons in MLB.
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