The 2025 World Baseball Qualifiers have already had it all. Familiar faces, rule changes, and blowouts have all appeared after just one day of games in Tucson, Arizona, but no teams are ready to give up.
Team Colombia started their campaign strong with a dominant 5-0 shutout of an impressive Brazil team, courtesy of a dominant performance by veteran Julio Teherán, who held Brazil hitless through five innings pitched.
Shutout Sunday 💪
Pedro Garcia closes it out for Team Colombia! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/vz0Y1Vx5xz
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 3, 2025
To open up the contest, an unlucky bounce led to an early error by former New York Yankee and current Athletics’ star Gio Urshela at third and it looked as if it was going to be a long day in the field for Colombia. Teherán would not let the early base runner deter him, however, as following a quick fielder’s choice, a comebacker to the mound would allow Colombia to turn a 1-6-3 double play to escape with just the minimum batters faced — a storyline that would continue throughout much of the night.
Brazil, though, was not discouraged after the early 1-2-3 inning, as they would turn their own double play before former Cincinnati Reds prospect Bo Takahashi finished off the job in the bottom frame of the first. Takahashi would later end his night early in just the third inning, after surrendering five hits and an earned run.
The sole run came courtesy of a disastrous defensive sequence for Team Brazil, starting off the top of the second with an opposite-field triple that was just poked by Urshela down the line and out of the reach of the outstretched arm of Brazilian outfielder Lucas Ramírez, the son of former Red Sox legend Manny Ramírez.
The son of Manny Ramírez, Lucas Ramírez, playing for Team Brazil – Image Credit: Tuscon KVOA News
Twins big leaguer Jaír Camargo would finish the job with a lazy grounder to the right side of the field to drive Urshela in for Colombia’s first run. Former MLB infielder Dilson Herrera joined in as well, taking advantage of a misplaced Dante Bichette at first to squeeze a double down the first base line. Takahashi would escape the inning stranding Herrera at third, but his night still ended just an inning later.
Brazil then sent 13 up and had 13 returned right back to them as Teherán compiled four strikeouts to shut Brazil down until the top of the sixth when an expertly placed drag bunt ended the no-hit bid for Colombia on just under 50 pitches thrown.
“Me and Jair Camargo were on the same page and we executed during the game,” said Teherán following his outing. “The main thing when coming into the game is to throw strikes and be effective against Brazil’s offense.”
Julio Teherán has represented Colombia several times throughout his professional career – Image Credit: WBC
Teherán exited the affair after the sixth inning and handed it off to the Colombian bullpen, who would similarly dominate, holding Brazil to just two hits across the final three frames of play.
“We have a solid bullpen with options going into the rest of the week with guys that have a lot of experience,” remarked Colombian Manager José Mosquera. “(Ezequiel) Zabaleta and (Pedro) 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.”
Colombia’s pitching staff were not the only heroes on defense, though, as Urshela played perfectly at the hot corner — making an incredible snaring grab to prohibit Brazil’s first potential extra-base hit of the game.
Gio Urshela making it look easy 😮💨 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/Z122CT2ZM5
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 3, 2025
Urshela also made a quick decision to throw home on a costly base-running error by Brazil, to keep the shutout for Colombia.
Urshela, known for his incredible defense in the Major Leagues, had struggled in international competition in his career. After his recent performance, it seems there could be more World Baseball Classic success in his future.
What’s Next?
Colombia (1-0), and Brazil (1-1) will continue their group-stage play of the qualifiers, facing Germany and China throughout the week to try to claim their bid for the 2026 WBC.
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