Trea Turner hits two home runs as the United States defeats Cuba to advance to the World Baseball Classic championship.

MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the United States defeated Cuba 14-2 on Sunday night to advance to its second World Baseball Classic championship in a row.

Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also homered for the Americans, who scored in seven of eight innings, including five with erroneous digits. Turner and Goldschmidt each had four RBIs.

The United States faces Japan or Mexico in the championship game on Tuesday night, hoping to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to capture the title twice.

Turner, who bats ninth in the lineup, has a tournament-high 10 RBIs. He backed up his game-winning, eighth-inning grand slam against Venezuela the night before with a solo homer in the second inning off Roenis Elias (0-1) and a three-run blast in the sixth against Elian Leyva.

Cuba took the lead after the first four hitters reached off Adam Wainwright (2-0) without a ball leaving the infield. The 41-year-old right-hander came back to strand the bases loaded, and the American attack pounded Cuban pitchers for 14 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. The United States was given seven passes.

Goldschmidt launched a two-run homer in the first inning, blasting a 112 mph rocket high over the left-field wall. In the sixth, he added a two-run single.

St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado exited the game after being hit on the hand by a pitch in the fifth inning, raising another injury concern before X-rays revealed nothing. Mets closer Edwin Daz suffered a season-ending knee injury during the celebration following Puerto Rico’s victory on Wednesday, and Houston second baseman Jose Altuve fractured his thumb on Saturday while playing for Venezuela.

Fans in the 35,779-person sellout crowd at LoanDepot Park sounded evenly divided between the United States and Cuba. Several hundred people congregated outside the stadium in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood prior to the game to protest the presence of the Cuban team, whose island nation has been under communist rule since 1959.

When fans ran onto the field in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, play was momentarily halted. The first carried a banner that stated “Libertad para los Presos Cubanos del 11 de Julio” (Freedom for Cuban Prisoners on July 11), referring to the date of the 2021 protests.

Cuban fans erupted early in the game when their team’s first four batters connected for three infield hits and a bases-loaded walk off Wainwright, who added to his early woes by failing to field a pair of grounders. In four innings, Wainwright allowed one run and five hits. Miles Mikolas of the Cardinals handled the final five innings.

Cuba’s national squad has struggled in recent years as many top players have left for the Major League Baseball. Cuba did not compete for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

For the first time this year, Cuba is employing MLB athletes, including Chicago White Gold Glove centerfielder Luis Robert and third baseman Yoán Moncada. Yoenis Céspedes, a former All-Star outfielder, is also on the squad.

“It’s a dream come true for us to be able to mix these players,” manager Armando Johnson said. “We want these players to be able to compete with us in any championship.”

In the World Baseball Classic, Cuba and the United States faced for the first time. In the 2008 Olympics, which did not include any current major leaguers, Cuba defeated manager Davey Johnson’s Americans 5-4 in 11 innings to win silver. The United States won bronze.