Turner, Goldschmidt power Team USA past Cuba, into WBC final

MIAMI — The best No. 9 hitter in the world helped send Team USA to the World Baseball Classic finals.

One day after his go-ahead grand slam saved its tournament, Trea Turner hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs Sunday to lead the United States past Cuba 14-2 in front of a highly charged, sold-out crowd of 35,779 at LoanDepot Park.

On a night where chants of “Libertad!” rang throughout the stadium intermittently and a protestor ran onto the field in the top of the sixth inning holding a banner calling for the freedom of prisoners from the July 11, 2021, anti-government protests in Cuba, the United States dismantled a Cuban team whose appearance in the semifinals exceeded pre-tournament expectations.

Protesters holding Cuban flags crashed the field in the seventh and eighth innings as well, highlighting the tension prompted by Cuba’s national team playing here for the first time.

The night on the field, though, belonged to Turner, the 29-year-old shortstop who signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies over the winter and has spent the past four WBC games hitting ninth for a team filled with superstars. On his first swing following the eighth-inning grand slam that pushed the U.S. past previously undefeated Venezuela on Saturday, Turner hammered a second-inning solo home run that staked the U.S. to a 3-1 lead. Turner’s three-run blast in the sixth turned a game teetering on the precipice of a blowout into an undoubted one, putting Team USA ahead 12-2.

Up and down the lineup, American stars shone. Leadoff hitter Mookie Betts went 3 for 6 and scored twice. Paul Goldschmidt, whose two-run home run in the first gave the U.S. a lead it never relinquished, had a pair of hits and drove in four. Cleanup hitter Nolan Arenado went 2 for 3 with two runs before leaving the game…