Mexico secured their victory over Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals, marking their first time advancing to the semifinals. Mexico’s bullpen played a crucial role in their win, keeping Puerto Rico off the scoreboard and allowing their offense to chip away at the score. Isaac Paredes, Luis Urías, Francisco Lindor, and Christian Vázquez all had notable performances in the game. Puerto Rico’s streak of making it to the WBC finals came to an end with the loss. In the next quarterfinal game, the United States and Venezuela will play to determine who will face Cuba in the semifinals. Mexico will face Japan in their semifinal match, with the winner moving on to the championship game.
The World Baseball Classic has now entered the critical win-or-go-home stage, with each team putting out its best pitcher to secure a spot in the semifinals. On Friday night, Puerto Rico faced off against Mexico at LoanDepot Park, with Marcus Stroman and Julio Urías as their respective starting pitchers.
In the first inning, Puerto Rico took an early lead, thanks to a Kiké Hernández walk and a Nelson Velazquez single. Emmanuel Rivera followed up with a sac fly that drove in Hernández. Javier Baez then hit a 367-foot homer to right field on a 1-2 count, extending Puerto Rico’s lead. Eddie Rosario hit another home run off Urías, giving Puerto Rico a 4-0 lead. While Urías would strike out four batters in four innings, the damage was already done.
Mexico’s first run of the game came from Isaac Paredes, who hit a 412-foot nuke that went the farthest of any batted ball distance of the night, according to Baseball Savant. Alex Verdugo hit an RBI single that cut Puerto Rico’s lead to only two runs in the fifth inning, prompting Stroman’s exit from the game.
Stroman finished his outing with a 3.00 ERA, having struck out two and allowed only three hits until Mexico’s second run. On the other hand, Urías ended his night with a 7.00 ERA after allowing five hits, four runs, and two homers in four innings of work.
Overall, Puerto Rico won the game with a final score of 4-5 and will advance to face Japan in the semifinals. Baez, who had an outstanding performance in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, continues to shine in this year’s tournament with a .368/.368/.684/1.052 slash line, one homer, and six RBIs. Meanwhile, Rosario, who is playing in his third WBC, hit his first-ever homer in the tournament, despite struggling overall.
The game between Puerto Rico and Mexico at LoanDepot Park turned into a reliever’s duel after Alex Verdugo’s RBI in the fifth inning. Puerto Rico put in Yacksel Rios and Fernando Cruz, while Mexico relied on Javier Assad and Jo Jo Romero to keep the score tied.
However, the game changed in the seventh inning when Mexico rallied to take the lead. Austin Barnes started the inning with a double, followed by two consecutive walks that loaded the bases against Puerto Rico’s Alexis Díaz. Puerto Rico brought in Jorge López, who was able to work a pop fly and a strikeout but gave up an RBI single to Isaac Paredes that tied the game at 4-4. Luis Urías then hit an RBI single to give Mexico the lead.
In the top of the ninth inning, Puerto Rico tried to rally back. Christian Vázquez singled, and Vimael Machín attempted a bunt that was caught by St. Louis Cardinals closer Giovanny Gallegos. Martin Maldonado then popped out to Joey Meneses, leaving Puerto Rico with only one out remaining.
With Puerto Rico down to their final out, Francisco Lindor singled to advance Vázquez to second and put the tying run in scoring position. However, the next batter, Javier Baez, flew out to end the game.
Mexico’s outstanding relievers
While Mexico’s batters had a great seventh inning, the team’s relievers may be the real MVPs of the game. Javier Assad went 2 2/3 innings and struck out four while only allowing one hit. Jo Jo Romero also had a scoreless appearance, not allowing a hit through 14 pitches thrown.
Randy Arozarena’s game-saving catch
In the seventh inning, with runners on the corners and two outs, Emmanuel Rivera flew out to Randy Arozarena. Arozarena’s catch may have been the play of the Classic, given what it meant for the outcome of the game and the amount of ground he had to cover. He was running at 26.7 feet per second to make the grab, preventing Puerto Rico from scoring and keeping Mexico’s lead intact.
Conclusion
The game between Puerto Rico and Mexico was intense, with both teams fighting hard to move on to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. In the end, Mexico’s seventh-inning rally and outstanding relief pitching secured the team’s victory. While Puerto Rico put up a good fight, they were unable to overcome Mexico’s strong performance.
Mexico’s bullpen secured their victory over Puerto Rico, keeping them off the scoreboard after the first-inning explosion. This allowed Mexico’s offense to chip away at the score and ultimately take the lead. The win snaps Puerto Rico’s streak of making it to the WBC finals. Notable players include Isaac Paredes and Luis Urías, who both had two-hit games, as well as Francisco Lindor and Christian Vázquez. On Saturday, the United States and Venezuela will play the final quarterfinal game to determine who will face Cuba in the semifinals. Mexico will face Japan on Monday night in Miami, with the winner advancing to the championship game.
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