Trea Turner continued his red-hot run for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, scoring in the second inning to give the Americans a 1-0 lead over Japan in the championship game. It was Turner’s fifth home run of the tournament, tying him for most in a single World Baseball Classic and breaking the record for most by an American player in his WBC career.
Turner’s home run came with a 92 mph fastball from Japan’s left-handed starter Shota Imanaga. Turner had developed a 2-1 advantage before Imanaga fired his heater down the middle. Check out the result:
According to Statcast, Turner’s home run had an exit speed of 107 mph and a starting angle of 25 degrees. The ball was estimated to have traveled 406 feet improving Team USA’s winning probability by 11 percentage points to 58.8%.
Turner started Tuesday night at .368/.429/1.000 with four homers and 10 runs batted. Turner’s fifth throw tied Seung-Yuop Lee (Korea, 2006) for the largest margin in a single tournament. Here’s the rest of the top 4:
Win or lose on Tuesday, Turner will return to camp with the Philadelphia Phillies afterwards. He signed an 11-year, $300 million pact with them over the winter. He previously spent the last season and a half with the Los Angeles Dodgers. For his career, he has amassed 122 OPS+ and nearly 30 wins over substitutes, according to Baseball Reference calculations.
The Americans are aiming for their second straight WBC title. Japan, already ensuring they will continue their unrivaled streak of top four finishes, won both the 2006 and 2009 tournaments, becoming the only nation with multiple titles on Tuesday.