The US beat Venezuela 9-7 Saturday night on a comeback grand slam by Trea Turner. What caught my eye in the game were two unusual feats by Tim Anderson and Luis Arraez.

Arraez hit two home runs in the game. The ball seemed to be flying out of Marlins Park Saturday night, making me wonder if they are using a livelier ball in the tournament. Nonetheless, Arraez is not the type of hitter who produces home runs. In his MLB career, he went deep 14 times in 1413 at bats, just about one very 100 AB. Arraez’s game is to make contact (just 131 K in his career) and find holes. There’s no reason he could not hit home runs if he set his mind to it, and the two home runs make me wonder if he has set his mind to it. That may not be a good idea, as Miami is tough on home runs, but it’s something to look for as the season begins.

The grand slam rally started with a walk by Anderson. The White Sox lead-off hitter drew just 117 walks in his 3129 AB career. In none on and none out situations, Anderson’s OBP goes to up .331 from his career average .316, but it’s due to many more hits, not being more selective at the plate. Anderson took pitches and drew the walk, which started the cascade of events that led to the Turner home run. If he can turn more outs into walks this season, he could become one of the great lead-off hitters in the game.