Team USA Baseball ran — err, walked — away from Brazil for a 15-5 win in the Americans’ 2026 World Baseball Classic opener on Friday night at Daikin Park in Houston. Brazil, which shockingly out-homered Team USA 3-1, stuck around for most of the game. The Americans, who were 9.5-run favorites, drew a total of 17 walks in the game and scored seven runs in the ninth inning to blow things open.

Here’s what to know from Friday night’s WBC opener.

Aaron Judge got things started quickly

Aaron Judge came to the plate with a runner on second and one out in the first inning. He watched three balls before getting served a middle-middle pitch on a 3-0 count. The Yankees star and three-time MVP didn’t miss. 

Just like that, USA had a 2-0 lead. 

The USA lineup wore down Brazil with patience

What jumps out immediately about the USA lineup is the firepower, obviously, with so many home run threats up and down the order. Knowing that, it would be easy to overlook the strike-zone skills possessed by the group. So many of the hitters in the lineup are adept at working counts and not swinging at bad pitches. The Judge blast obviously was helpful, but the main reason USA put such a big number on the board in this one was the non-stop traffic on the bases. 

USA hitters walked 17 times, compared to 10 hits. The four-run rally in the fifth inning that broke the game open was enabled by three straight walks before Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch and then Brice Turang doubled home three runs. The seven-run ninth inning had three singles and five walks. 

It actually should have been uglier. Team USA was 5 for 21 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. The only extra-base hits were the Judge home run and two Turang doubles. And the Americans still scored 15 runs.

This is a good illustration of what makes the offense so dangerous. Bats can slump but with so much traffic runs will happen eventually. 

Webb was dominant on the mound

One of the differences from the 2023 squad here is that the 2026 version of Team USA has a trio of aces. Sure, Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes are the main event, but Giants ace Logan Webb has finished in the top six of Cy Young voting each of the last three years and that includes a second-place finish. It was a rocky start for just a quick second, as Webb allowed a leadoff homer. 

After that, though, he faced 12 batters and got all of them out. Six of them came on strikeouts and most of the contact was weak. He was in total control. 

Now, Brazil did put together a three-run seventh inning against reliever Michael Wacha, but there was enough cushion that it didn’t create any major issues. Wacha was there to absorb the innings more than anything else.

Skubal comes next against Great Britain and then Skenes follows against Mexico in the deadly USA rotation.

MLB legacies make impact for Brazil

Lucas Ramirez led off the game for Brazil with a home run. He is the son of Manny Ramirez. Oh, and he homered again in the eighth inning! How about that? 

The second pitcher for Brazil was 17-year-old Joseph Contreras, who is actually in high school in the Atlanta area. He’s the son of former MLB pitcher Jose Contreras. Joseph’s stuff looked great. He even induced an inning-ending double play from Judge in the second inning. 

That’s a memorable moment.

What’s next?

Next up for Team USA is a Saturday billing against Great Britain back at Daikin Park at 8 p.m. ET. The goal for USA, really, is simply to win every game. It doesn’t really matter how. If USA goes 4-0 in the pool, the Americans will play the second-place team from Pool A (Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Panama or Colombia) in the quarterfinals. Going 4-0 means no need to worry about tiebreakers or anything like that.Â