The WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier continued Tuesday in Florida, where the eight best national teams from the Americas are gathered to pursue one of two open slots in the six-team Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games field. The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Olympics last year, and they will take place from July 21-Aug. 8. The four teams that have already qualified for the first Olympic baseball action in 13 years are Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea.

The Americas Qualifier will run through Sunday, and the teams are split into two groups. Group A consists of the world’s second-ranked team, the United States, as well as No. 10 Dominican Republic, No. 11 Puerto Rico and No. 15 Nicaragua. The teams in Group B are No. 7 Cuba, No. 8 Venezuela, No. 13 Canada and No. 14 Colombia.

Each team will play the other three teams in its group in the opening round, with the top two teams advancing to the Super Round this weekend. At that point, the top two teams from Group A will play the top two teams from Group B -- one each on Saturday and Sunday. The team with the overall best record at the end of the Super Round will secure a spot in the Olympic field, while the runner-up and third-place team will advance to the WBSC Final Qualifier. That tournament will take place from June 22-26 in Mexico, with the winner claiming the sixth and final Olympic spot.

Here are the results from Day 2 of the Americas Qualifier:

GROUP A

United States 8, Dominican Republic 6
The United States clinched its spot in this weekend's Super Round by holding off the Dominican Republic in a back-and-forth battle. Luke Williams, the Phillies' No. 30 prospect, had a pair of hits out of the leadoff spot, including a clutch two-run triple in what proved to be a decisive four-run sixth inning.

Former big leaguer Juan Francisco hit two homers for the Dominican Republic, including a leadoff shot off David Robertson in the ninth that cut the United States' lead to two. Robertson, however, retired the next three batters to close out the win.

With the victory, the U.S. is guaranteed one of the top two spots in Group A, though Wednesday's round-robin finale against Puerto Rico (0-2) is still significant since the Olympic berth goes to the team with the best overall record from the tournament.

Nicaragua 7, Puerto Rico 6 (F/10)
With both teams in desperate need of a win after dropping their respective openers, Nicaragua rallied late to pull out a key victory over Puerto Rico. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, Nicaragaua gave up a five-spot in the second inning. Things stayed that way until the eighth when Nicaragua pushed across three runs to knot the game at 5 apiece. Nicaragua eventually plated a pair in the top of the 10th, then held Puerto Rico to one in the bottom half to seal the win.

Edgard Montiel came off the bench for a pinch-hit game-tying two-run single in the eighth, while Benjamin Alegria went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. It was also a huge day for Nicaragua's bullpen, with five relievers combining to allow just one unearned run over 8 2/3 innings after starter Dilmer Mejia allowed five runs in just 1 2/3 frames.

GROUP B

Venezuela 3, Colombia 2
Venezuela improved to 2-0 after exchanging clutch ninth-inning homers with Colombia. With Colombia trailing by one entering the ninth, third baseman Jordan Diaz -- the A's No. 12 prospect -- clubbed a game-tying homer. The tie was short-lived, however, as Giants prospect Diego Rincones led off the bottom of the frame with a walk-off homer to give Venezuela the win.

Canada 6, Cuba 5
After tossing a no-hitter in the tournament opener on Monday, Canada came out swinging on Tuesday. The team scored three runs on four hits in the first, capped by an RBI single from Kellin Deglan, the 22nd overall pick by the Rangers in the 2010 MLB Draft. The 29-year-old Deglan is currently in the Yankees' Minor League system, having played five games this season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It was a balanced overall attack from Canada, with seven of its nine starters collecting at least one hit and six players scoring one run apiece. Cubs scored two in the bottom of the ninth to cut its deficit to one, but former big league reliever John Axford finally slammed the door with the potential tying run on base.

With Tuesday's results, Canada and Venezuela will each advance to this weekend's Super Round, though their head-to-head meeting on Wednesday could be crucial in each of their bids to earn an Olympic berth.

Standings

GROUP A

United States: 2-0
Dominican Republic: 1-1
Nicaragua: 1-1
Puerto Rico: 0-2

GROUP B

Canada: 2-0
Venezuela: 2-0
Colombia: 0-2
Cuba: 0-2

Wednesday matchups

GROUP A

Nicaragua (1-1) vs. Dominican Republic (1-1)
Puerto Rico (0-2) vs. United States (2-0)

GROUP B

Canada (2-0) vs. Venezuela (2-0)
Cuba (0-2) vs. Colombia (0-2)