Canada on verge of elimination after loss

Randy Arozarena had two doubles and drove in five runs, Rowdy Tellez added a two-run single and solo homer, and Mexico beat Canada, 10-3, Wednesday to earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.

Canada had a chance to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time with a win. Instead, it appeared the Canadians would be eliminated after pool play for the fifth straight tournament barring a very unlikely result in the final Pool C game.

A United States win over Colombia later Wednesday would eliminate Canada. If Colombia managed an upset, the U.S., Canada and

Colombia would be tied at 2-2. The winner of that tiebreak would be the team with the fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs in the games against the other tied teams, which would put Canada as an extreme longshot to advance after its 12-1 loss to the U.S. on Monday.

Mexico started the tournament with a surprising loss to Colombia in Group C at Chase Field, but rallied with three straight wins, beating the U.S., Britain and Canada.

José Urquidy gave up two runs over four innings, striking out five to earn the win. Arozarena hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth that broke the game open.

Canada leadoff hitter Edouard Julien had two hits, including a solo homer in the seventh inning, and catcher Bo Naylor hit a solo homer.

“I think he’s very capable of being an all-star in the big leagues,” Canada manager Ernie Whitt said of second baseman Julien, a prospect in the Minnesota Twins’ system. “Like I said, he continues to improve his defence. You go back and you look at his track record at college, he’s tied some records for the best hitter. I mean, it shows. And plus he’s what I call a gamer. He plays hard every play.”

Rob Zastryzny took the loss after giving up three runs over two innings.

The Canadians finished pool play at 2-2 with wins over Britain and Colombia and losses to the U.S. and Mexico.

The Canadians finished pool play at 2-2 with wins over Britain and Colombia and losses to the U.S. and Mexico