Panama defeats Brazil to return to the World Baseball Classic

PANAMA — Jose Ramos, home and rookie player Ariel Jurado added five goal-free rounds as Panama beat Brazil 4-0 on Tuesday to secure their third trip to the World Baseball Classic.

The victory is a revenge for the Panamanian national team, who were eliminated in 2012 at home by Brazil heading to the 2013 classic. Three years later he surrendered for the second time despite being the host again, this time against Colombia.

The first two participations of Panamanians in the tournament – 2006 and 2009 – were by invitation.

Brazil (2-1) will have another chance this Wednesday, when they face Nicaragua (2-1) for their second and final ticket to next year’s El Clasico.

Ramos – his second goal in the tournament – from former major league Andre Renzo finished bottom fourth. Panama added the third in the next game on RBI hit by Allen Córdoba and the fourth at home solo by Edgar Muñoz in the seventh.

Right-handed Jurado (1-0) allowed the Brazilians to one-up and hit six in 5 1/3 innings to earn the win. Renzo (0-1) is charged with the opposite.

In the first game of the day, Dwight Britton scored in a round tie-breaker at the bottom of the seventh game and Nicaragua beat Argentina 6-5 to stay one win away from reaching their first Clasico. This is the third match played by the Nicaraguan team.

Britton drove in Brandon Stephen Leighton’s double, and after Argentina were tied 5-5 at home alone by Lucas Stallman at Rod Carew Stadium in the Panamanian capital.

Argentina, who participated in their first match, came out with two victories and the same number of losses.

Loyal Berman Espinosa (1-0) won the match, while Ronel Rhodes got the last five rounds to make the save. Franco Perez (0-1) took the loss. Sandy Bermudez was the best in attack, going 2 on 3 with two RBIs.

Great Britain and the Czech Republic previously led another match in Germany. The Classic will take place in March with the participation of 20 teams. The first round of four groups will be held in Tokyo, Taichung (Taiwan), Miami and Phoenix.