Mike Trout had three hits and three RBIs as the United States enjoyed a brilliant night from its reserve pitching squad to defeat Colombia 3-2 and advance to the quarterfinals in the World Baseball Classic.
Mexico and the United States finished 3-1 in Pool C to advance to the next round. Mexico finished first after its 11-5 victory over the United States on Sunday.
Trout singled in the third to drive in Mookie Betts to make it 1-0. Colombia rallied quickly and went up 2-1 in the bottom of the third on Gio Urshela’s sacrifice fly and Reynaldo Rodriguez’s RBI double.
Trout put the Americans ahead again in the fifth with a two-run single that drove in runs for Betts and Will Smith.
Merrill Kelly allowed two runs in three innings for the Americans. Kelly then gave way to a series of power pitchers waiting in the bullpen: Kendall Graveman, Daniel Bard, David Bednar, Jason Adam, Devin Williams and Ryan Pressly each pitched a scoreless inning to round out the victory.
Colombia started the tournament with a win over Mexico, but then lost three straight games to Canada, Great Britain and the United States. The South American nation played a fantastic tournament, and was barely edged out by the US in Phoenix.
A crowd of 29,856 people attended the game at Chase Field, and saw the reigning champs qualify to the quarter finals of the WBC for the fifth time in tournament history.