Preview: USA takes on Panama at Coloso del Pacifico Stadium on Tuesday evening in Tepic

At 7pmlocal time at Coloso del Pacifico stadium in Tepic, Mexico on Tuesday, USA is takingon Panama in the Group A opening round matchup at the WBSC Premier12 2024presented by RAXUS. USA is 1-2 in the standings, while Panama is tied for firstplace with a 2-1 record after three game days so far.

World No. 5 USA has felt behind early on in this tournament as losses to Puerto Rico (0-1) and Venezuela (3-5) sandwich a 12-2 win over the Netherlands. Against Venezuela the team of manager Mike Scioscia was able to the tie the game twice at 1-1 and 2-2, before a three-run bottom of the sixth sealed the win over Venezuela. No. 10 Panama meanwhile could have been undefeated if not for their heartbreaking 8-9 extra-inning loss to the Netherlands on day one. They rebounded from the tough defeat with 4-2 and 3-2 wins over Venezuela and Mexico.

Team USA is relying heavily on the strong start by Matt Shaw into the tournament. He is leading the American offense, which is hitting .264/.364/.451 overall, with an 8-for-11 performance with two home runs, a double, four runs scored and nine RBI in three games. Chandler Simpson has scored four times as well.

Panama ishitting .255/.290/.480 through the first three games. Jhonny Santos is theirtop hitter so far with five hits – all going for extra bases. Carlos Quiroz isleading his team with four RBI, including a decisive sac fly against Mexico. RubenTejada has scored four runs.

24-year-old
Bryan Caceres is taking the mound as Panama’s starting pitcher on Tuesday. Theright-hander is a member of the Washington Nationals organization. Since hisprofessional debut in 2018 he is slowly climbing up the ladder in the farmsystem, reaching High-A in 2023. Through six seasons he is 20-34 with an ERA of5.47 in 125 games (74 starts). He has struck out 370 batters and walked a 207in 441.1 innings pitched.

Team USA issending 28-year-old Touki Toussaint as starting pitcher into the game. Theright-hander is an 88-game MLB veteran. Between 2018 and 2024 playing for theAtlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox in the big leagues heassembled an ERA of 5.39 with 292 strikeouts in 280.1 innings pitched, whilewalking 179. This season he made 11 appearances out of the bullpen of the WhiteSox. He became a free agent in September.

USA and
Panama have met multiple times since 2011 on the international baseball stage.
USA is owning a 19-4 record over Panama in head-to-head matches. Both programslast squared off last year at the WBSC U-18 and U-12 Baseball World Cups withUSA winning 6-4 in both instances. Panama is playing in its first-ever WBSCPremier12. USA finished in second place in 2015 and fourth in 2019.