The United States has beaten Germany 9-1 at the baseball World Cup for its first victory.
The defending champion got home runs Friday from Buck Coats, Trevor Plouffe, Justin Smoak and Ilke Davis to bounce back from a 13-9 loss to Venezuela in the opening group game Thursday.
Venezuela beat China 17-2 to go 2-0.
The tournament, being played through Sept. 27 in seven countries across Europe, features 22 of the worlds top baseball-playing countries – though not all of the best players.
