Ryan Ward homers, has five RBIs as USA beat Panama 9-3

Ryan Ward hit a three-run homer in the second inning and collected five RBIs in the game to lead USA's offence in a 9-3 win over Panama on Tuesday. With this win, USA bounced back after losing yesterday against Venezuela.

USA's manager Mike Scioscia stressed the parity and competitiveness of the tournament. "Well, they're good teams and I think it shows if you play well, you have a chance to win. If you don't play well, you're not going to win," he said. "We played well tonight and got ourselves back in the tournament." 

Ruben Tejada put Panama in front in the top of the first, with a solo homer to the left field. However, USA answered back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, including Ward's two-run single, a bases-loaded walk and a grounder. One inning later, Ward's homer gave USA a 7-1 lead that was decisive.

"Definitely a tough game for us today, and obviously, we had to carry the loss. It’s a shame that there were two key innings - the first two - where we gave up seven runs, and we couldn’t recover," said José Mayorga, manager of Panama. "But I think the bullpen did what it could to keep us in the game. We just couldn’t have the big inning to tie the score. They got ahead thanks to a home run."

USA lead-off hitter Chandler Simpson went 4-for-5 for the game with two RBIs and a run and joined Ward as the highlights of the US lineup. On the defensive side, Scioscia pitched by committee tonight, using eight pitchers to complete the nine innings. 

Panama scored in the fifth and sixth, with solo homers by Jhonny Santos and Rodrigo Orozco. 

However, in the bottom of the seventh Chandler Simpson got back those two runs with a two-RBI single to drive in Drake Baldwin and Carson Williams.

With this win, USA evened their record 2-2 and will close Group A on Thursday against Mexico.

"Every game is tough and Mexico is always tough. They've got a strong lineup and we're going to have to play well to beat them," Scioscia added. "Tonight was a must-win for us and we have to come out here and play well. We're going to play Mexico in Guadalajara and hopefully we'll get an opportunity to get to Tokyo."