Enrique RojasSenior ESPN Digital Writer8:41 PM ETRead: 4 min.
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MIAMI, Fla. — Mexican left-hander Julio Urías, star of the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowed four runs and two home runs in the first inning against Puerto Rico in Friday’s quarterfinal game of the World Baseball Classic at rental Miami Depot Park.
He finished the night with four innings and four strikeouts. In two starts in the World Classic, Mexico’s top pitcher allowed seven runs — all earned — and three homers in nine innings.
On Friday, Urías beat All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor to start the action but then walked CF Kike Hernández, gave up a singles against RF Nelson Velázquez and 3B Emmanuel Rivera hit a victim fly that put Hernández in the first round of the game scored .
When it looked like Urías was going to limit the Puerto Ricans’ damage, 2B Javy Báez hit a two-barrel home run into right field and immediately thereafter, outfielder Eddie Rosario hit the ball into midfield. On March 11, he allowed three runs and a home run in five acts against Columbia in Phoenix, Arizona.
AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
Urías hadn’t allowed four runs since July 10 of last year, when the Chicago Cubs netted five times in two innings against him. In his major league career, he only twice allowed four runs in the first inning, including the regular season and the playoffs.
Before reporting to the Mexico national team, Urías was spectacular in the Dodgers’ preseason games in Arizona’s Cactus League. In two outings, he allowed five hits and one run, went no walks, and hit five batters in 6.2 innings.
In his last appearance on March 5 against the Chicago White Sox, he flirted with perfection, throwing four innings of shutout and putting 25 of his 28 pitches in the strike zone.
Urías, 26, is one of the top pitchers in the major leagues today. In 2020, he was one of the Dodgers’ main heroes in the playoffs that led to the team’s capture of the team’s first championship since 1988. Urías allowed four runs in 20.0 innings in the postseason, had a 1.17 ERA in the World Series, and had seven batters eliminated from the last meeting.
In 2021 he led the National League with 20 victories (with a 2.96 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 185 innings) and in 2022 he became the first Mexican with an ERA lead (2.16), winning 17 games and finishing third in voting Place Cy Young award of the old circuit.
In seven years with the Dodgers, Urías is 49-17 with a 2.82 ERA in 137 games.
But in the World Classic, Urías had a 7.00 ERA despite dropping 10 and trading just one batter.