Aaron Judge and Roman Anthony showed no mercy against Mexico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, blasting two powerful home runs to right field, a 364-foot shot by Judge and a 417-foot drive by Anthony, once again proving why the national team still carries the favorite’s label.
The moment came after Mexico made a pitching change. They had Manny Barreda, a former New York Yankees draft pick, on the mound and he had the top of Team USA’s batting order completely under control. But Mexico brought in Jesús Cruz, and that change opened the door for Judge and Anthony to take advantage.
Judge delivered the first two runs of the game, followed by Anthony, marking a historic moment of sorts, Team USA had never before started a game against Mexico with the lead. Those home runs allowed the Americans to finally put the first runs on the scoreboard.
Anthony with an unexpected home run
Roman Anthony had three total at-bats while playing left field. Batting near the bottom of the order as one of the last three hitters in the lineup, he made the most of his opportunities at the plate and finished the game with a .364 batting average, one hit, and the home run that helped give Team USA an important lead against Mexico.
“Roman Anthony is still just 21. He is going to have a monster season for the Red Sox. And he just hit the second home run of the inning for Team USA, a three-run tank that chased Jesús Cruz, staked the Americans a 5-0 lead and reminded everyone how deep and good this lineup is,” Jeff Passan wrote on X (@jeffpassan).
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Judge now has three home runs so far in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The win against Mexico raised his production at the plate to a .333 batting average and a .500 OBP. Perhaps most impressively, he has been struck out only once during the tournament, which came in the game against Great Britain.
“Aaron Judge is doing everything you could possibly ask for as the captain of Team USA. He threw out a runner at third with a 91.8 mph strike, then crushed a 364-foot home run to blow the game open. He is locked in at the plate with multiple homers in pool play, and he has this squad rolling at 3-0,” Zach Schumaker wrote on X (@zachschumaker).
