Team Brazil put a scare into Team USA in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic on Friday thanks to a pair of home runs from a familiar name.
Lucas Ramirez, the 20-year-old son of legendary slugger Manny Ramirez, took San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb deep to lead off the bottom of the first inning in Houston. The 2-1 blast cut the Americans’ lead in half after Aaron Judge hit a two-run shot in the top of the inning.
The younger Ramirez followed that with an eighth-inning home run off Seattle southpaw Gabe Speier, which cut Team USA’s lead to 8-5.
Unfortunately for Brazil, that would be as close as the heavy underdogs would come after surrendering seven runs in the top of the ninth.
‘I was looking forward for him to do something special,’ Manny Ramirez told The Associated Press. ‘So, he’s been working so hard all year round and I’m proud of him.’
Wearing his father’s No. 24, Lucas is playing for Brazil because his mother, Juliana, was born and raised in Sao Paulo. She was at the ballpark Friday night and beamed after her son’s first-inning blast to right field.
The younger Ramirez was a 17th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in the 2024 draft and he spent last season playing in class A, batting .266 with three homers, 30 RBIs and six stolen bases.
Lucas Ramirez, 20, hits the first of two home runs on Friday against Team USA in the WBC
Former Cleveland and Boston slugger Manny Ramirez watches his son in Houston on Friday
Lucas Ramirez hit not one, but two home runs off of Major League pitchers on Friday
He also played for Brazil in the 2026 WBC qualifiers and went 5 for 13.
Manny Ramirez, a two-time World Series champion and the 2004 World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox, would have been thrilled to see his son homer against any team, but it made it more special for him to do it against one of the top teams in the tournament.
‘Oh yeah, they’re No. 1,’ he said.
And he thinks the big hit will give his son a boost for the upcoming season.
‘It’s going to be more special for him because that’s going to give him – he’s going to be ready for the season,’ Ramirez said. ‘I hope he’s going to do good.
‘I’m proud of him,’ he said. ‘Thank God for this opportunity that he has.’
Lucas wasn’t the only son of a former MLB star to succeed for Team Brazil on Friday.
Joseph Contreras, the son of Cuban-born pitcher and former New York Yankees starter José Contreras, got Judge to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Like Lucas Ramirez, Joseph Contreras’ mother was also born in Brazil — a country that isn’t known for baseball.
Team USA is scheduled to host Great Britain on Saturday in Houston, where Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is expected to pitch for the Americans.
Great Britain’s roster does include Nassau, Bahamas native and Yankees slugger Jazz Chisholm.
