Mexico vs USA Baseball: Score, key moments and star performances in historic WBC upset

On a night of many surprises, Team USA saw its worst fears realized against Mexico in their second game of pool play of the World Baseball Classic 2023. The pitchers predictably found themselves overmatched against the hot-hitting Mexicans, who piled up 15 hits on the back of statement performances from Joey Meneses and Randy Arozarena.

Their vaunted hitting lineup featuring several MVP-caliber batters took a long time to get going against Mexico's pitchers Patrick Sandoval and Javier Assad and by the time they showed any signs of life, the game was well out of reach.

Team USA could find it difficult to progress out of Pool C

At points in the game, Team USA was at serious risk of getting Mercy Ruled. A rally in the eighth avoided this ignominy for the Americans, who scored to cut the final deficit to 6 runs, losing 11-5.

Team USA fans were understandably enraged at their insipid, uninspired display against a far inferior team on paper.

The World Baseball Classic uses runs allowed as a tiebreaker, which could have serious implications for Team USA's chances of progression after this chastening loss. The USA will look to bounce back against Canada, who poured in 18 runs against the hapless Great Britain team earlier on in the day.

Fans will be expecting the Americans to give a far better account of themselves when they take the field next.

About the author

Amlan Sanyal is a basketball writer at Sportskeeda with more than two years of experience. Amlan has a soft spot for the lovable loser, and years of supporting Leeds Utd, the Seattle Mariners and San Antonio Spurs have made him realize that there's more to sport than just championships.

Amlan started falling for basketball after watching the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 and 2013. He watched as a collective of veteran legends, underrated misfits and a young defensive stud extended the Spurs' era of dominance with a team-oriented style, reminiscent of the aesthetic brilliance of 2011 FC Barcelona.

Amlan has supported the Spurs ever since, even after enduring the heartbreaks of Ray Allen's corner three and several years in the wilderness post-Kawhi Leonard. He hopes Victor Wembanyama will become the face of the league as Pop rides off into the sunset.

When not working, Amlan is a keen quizzer and a podcast buff and can usually be found reading books, watching movies or listening to history podcasts.

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