PANAMA CITY, Panama -- The home crowd was treated to The Chooch Show on Thursday night at Rod Carew Stadium.
Playing in front of 11,744 spirited fans, Panama catcher Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz hit two home runs and collected four RBIs to lead his squad to a 9-2 win over France in the first round of the World Baseball Classic qualifier. After opening the game's scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, Ruiz hit a solo moonshot in the third and then a two-run blast in the fifth.
Panama is now set to host Colombia at 9 p.