Outside of leadoff hitter Nate Eaton, the British bats went a whopping 0-for-25 at the plate, failing to gain any momentum at all. USA (2-0) pitchers tossed a combined 17 strikeouts without sacrificing a single walk.
Relief pitcher Clay Holmes got the win for the USA after tossing three shutout innings with six strikeouts, allowing one hit. Eight of the team's nine batters recorded at least one hit, while Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore Orioles) led the way, going 4-for-5 at the plate with three four singles, two RBI, and a double.
The USA has now put up a jaw-dropping 24 runs in their first two games (15 vs. Brazil, 9 vs. Great Britain).
Recap and highlights
In the very first at-bat of the game, Great Britain's Eaton took the back-to-back American League Cy Young winner, Tariki Skubal, deep for a solo home run to make it 1-0.
The hit was originally ruled a double, but was later overturned to a home run after further review. Eaton would finish the game 3-for-4.
The U.S. has now allowed a home run in the first inning in each of their first two games at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Skubal would bounce back in the second inning and retire the side on just nine pitches. But Great Britain's Trayce Thompson, brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, robbed Will Smith of a home run in what might be the best catch of the 2026 WBC when all is said and done.
Thompson's catch stopped the U.S. from tying the game up 1-1, as he finished the game ()-for-() at the plate. The U.S. had a runner on third in the second with two outs, but couldn't bring him home.
Najer Victor put up the single-inning performance of the entire day among any team after he struckout Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, and Gunnard Henderson all in the fourth inning to maintain Great Britain's 1-0 lead.
He would be taken out the next inning after American Ernie Clement reached first on a throwing error. Victor came out after 1.1 innings, not allowing a single hit with four strikeouts and one walk.
Shortly after Victor was taken out, the U.S. began teeing off on Great Britain.
Their first run of the matchup came from a wild pitch by Andre Scrubb to make it 1-1. But then in came the National League leader in home runs in Kyle Schwarber, who launched a two-run bomb to deep right field to put the U.S. up 3-1.
The U.S. would continue to pour it on after Henderson would drill a two-run double to centerfield to go up 5-1 before the end of the inning.
From there on it was all Team USA. Both Will Smith - the only player to go without a single hit on Team USA - and Alex Bregman would bring in runs on a pair of sacrifice flies, while Judge would bring another home on an RBI single.
Bregman would eventually get another sac-fly to make it the final score of 9-1.
The U.S. will go on to face Mexico on March 9th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Meanwhile, Great Britain's next game is against Italy (1-0) and is scheduled for March 8th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time.