Mexico down Britain in World Baseball Classic; Canada back on track

LOS ANGELES: Mexico defeated Great Britain 2-1 on Tuesday to stay on course for a place in the World Baseball Classic quarter-finals as Canada got their campaign back on track with a 5-0 defeat of Colombia. Britain, playing in the tournament for the first time, pulled off an upset on Monday with a defeat of Colombia in Pool C. But any hopes of a repeat against a Mexico team who stunned the star-studded United States side on Sunday was snuffed out in a tense duel in Phoenix.

Mexico took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Alexis Wilson’s single scored Isaac Paredes. Britain pulled level in the top of the sixth when BJ Murray Jr singled to shortstop Alan Trejo, allowing Chavez Young to scamper home from third base to tie the game at 1-1. Mexico regained the lead in the next inning, with Wilson again coming up clutch with a line drive to left field to score Trejo for the winning run.

Canada, Mexico and the United States are all level with two wins and one defeat heading into the final round of fixtures in Pool C. Mexico and Canada face off against each other on Wednesday where a victory for either side will guarantee a quarter-final berth. The United States will face Colombia in their final group game where a win will ensure their safe passage. Canada warmed up for Mexico with a comfortable win over Colombia but the victory was marred by an injury to star first baseman Freddie Freeman.

The Los Angeles Dodgers ace exited in the fourth inning with what looked like a hamstring strain. Canada manager Ernie Whitt revealed later that Freeman would miss Wednesday’s crunch clash with Mexico. “He felt something on one of his swings, his second at-bat,” Whitt said. “So again we would do that to anyone if there’s discomfort or something like that, we’re going to take them out,” Whitt said. In Pool D, Venezuela rolled to their third straight win of the tournament - and a place in the last eight -with a 4-1 win over Nicaragua. The Dominican Republic thrashed Israel 10-0 in the day’s other game.