Mexico comes back to beat Puerto Rico to advance to the semifinals

Isaac Paredes was the hero for Mexico on Friday in the Planet Baseball Classic. (Sam Navarro-USA Right now Sports)

A nightmare commence did not quit Mexico, and it really is now headed to the semifinals of the Planet Baseball Classic for the very first time following Friday’s five-four victory more than Puerto Rico.

The game opened with 4 runs for Puerto Rico in the top rated of the very first inning, which includes back-to-back household runs by Javier Baez and Eddie Rosario. Puerto Rico, which came into the game in torturous style, was riding higher on Mexican pitcher Julio Urias, the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander who won the National League ERA title final season.

Mexico went downhill from there. Urias, Javier Assad, JoJo Romero, Jake Sanchez and Giovanni Gallegos all did not enable a run following the very first inning, and Sanchez was helped by WBC star shortstop Randy Arozarena on a doable added base hit in the eighth inning.

In case you are asking yourself how significantly these players care about VBC, Arozaren Fox’s Ken Rosenthal said that he puts that catch above any household run he’s hit in MLB, which includes the 3 he hit in the 2020 Planet Series:

“That was far better than any household run I’ve ever hit in the significant leagues,” he mentioned. “That was far better than any household run I’ve hit in the Planet Series. That catch was the greatest.”

The offense came in spurts in this quarterfinal, with Mexico third baseman Isaac Paredes, who plays for the Tampa Bay Rays, placing his nation on the board in the second inning with a solo household run. Alex Verdugo plated Mexico’s second run with a single in the fifth inning, and then the genuine harm followed in the seventh.

Paredes, who reached base 4 occasions, singled with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game. Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Luis Urias followed with a single to give Mexico the lead:

Mexico, who reached the quarterfinals as the top rated seed in Group C, will now face powerhouse Japan on Monday in Miami on Fox Sports 1. A win in that game would place the USA, Venezuela or Cuba in the WBC 2023 final.