Canada pours in 18 runs in rout of Great Britain in World Baseball Classic opener

Tyler O'Neill of Maple Ridge, B.C., and Jacob Robson of Windsor, Ont., had four hits each to lead Canada to an 18-8 mercy rule win (seven innings) over Great Britain in their first game of the World Baseball Classic at Chase Field on Sunday.

The 18 runs are the most Canada has ever scored at the tournament.

"I'd like to score 18 every game we play," said Team Canada manager Ernie Whitt after the game. "It will make it a little bit easier. Great Britain, they just kept battling, battling back.

"But as Tyler [O'Neill] said, we had some great at-bats. We grinded out our at-bats. We took our walks. And we capitalized on some of the mistakes they made. So it was nice to see."

Edouard Julien (Quebec City) and Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) homered for Canada, while Freddie Freeman (Villa Park), Otto Lopez (Montreal) and Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) had two hits each.

WATCH | Canada opens World Baseball Classic with win over Great Britain:

Canada also capitalized on a tournament record-tying 16 walks from Great Britain pitchers.

The Canadians had to overcome an early deficit on Sunday. Coming off a competitive 6-2 loss to the U.S. on Saturday night, Great Britain plated three runs in the top of the first inning on two hits, four walks and three stolen bases against starter Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.).

But Julien and Team Canada responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame when the 23-year-old Minnesota Twins infield prospect clubbed the first pitch he saw from Great Britain starter Akeel Morris over the right-field wall to become the first player to homer on their first pitch of their first WBC at bat.

"I just treated that at-bat like a normal one, not the first one of the game," said Julien after the game.