FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis hit two long drives before leaving for the World Baseball Classic.

In their last game with Boston before they play for the United States against Canada and Red Sox teammate Jason Bay on Saturday in Toronto, the wind kept Pedroia’s sacrifice fly from being a grand slam then carried Youkilis’ less impressive fly over the right center field fence.

“It was a good swing (by Youkilis), but Pedey hit his ball as good as he can hit it,” manager Terry Francona said after Boston’s 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. “That’s sometimes the way it is in Florida.”

Now the focus shifts to stadiums in Toronto, Mexico City, Tokyo and San Juan for the opening round of the 16-team tournament.

Other players on the Red Sox 40-man roster scheduled to play are right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka for defending champion Japan, designated hitter David Ortiz for the Dominican Republic and reliever Javier Lopez for Puerto Rico.

“We’ve got to come up with about five position players every day now that we wouldn’t have. Some younger guys will certainly get a chance to play,” Francona said.

Youkilis is looking forward to representing his country and continuing to play with Pedroia.

“It’s good to have someone there you know,” he said before Sunday’s game. “It’s definitely going to help. It’s going to be fun, playing with guys you might never get to play with again, you always play against.”

Youkilis finished third last year in the AL MVP voting won by Pedroia.

“The toughest part for the position players (in the WBC) is we’ve got to play nine innings” early in March, Pedroia said. “Sometimes, I don’t know if we’re ready for that.”

It also will be strange to be playing against Red Sox teammates, he said.

The tournament is very important in Japan, which won it in 2006, and the Dominican Republic.

“They’ll be talking about this for years,” in his homeland, said Ortiz, who went 0-for-3 against Minnesota. “You see people back home going crazy about a tournament like this.”

He also expects plenty of talking from feisty second baseman Pedroia.

Canada is a longshot in the tournament, and Bay, Boston’s left fielder, is expected to play center field.

“Being in Toronto, it’s definitely going to get quite a bit of (publicity),” said Bay, who didn’t play Sunday. “We don’t have the depth a lot of the other countries do. The last time we did it, we threw every non-major leaguer we had at the U.S. and ended up winning, so stranger things have happened.”