With a 2-1 record, Canada will take on Cuba for the right to make their first knockout stage. It's pretty easy to say that the game is the biggest in Canada's WBC history, because either they win and finish first in the group, or they lose and go home. There will be no tiebreaker that'll come in to play, as the winner moves to 3-1, and the loser moves to 2-2.
Canada picked up their second win of the tournament, a 3-2 victory over Puerto Rico. It was actually Puerto Rico that jumped out to an early lead, but the Jays drew two walks with the bases loaded to take the lead, then added an insurance run in the following inning.
Puerto Rico took the lead in the bottom of the first. With runners on first and second and no outs, Arizona Diamondbacks' third baseman Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Team USA and Mexico will square off Monday night at Daikin Park in Houston (7 p.m. CT, FOX) in what is shaping up to be the most anticipated matchup of Pool B play at the 2026 WBC. Both teams enter the contest undefeated through their first two games, setting up a clash between two tournament contenders with major implications for the knockout stage.
The Red Sox fan base is rightfully annoyed. America is pissed off too. Shohei Ohtani, who does not need any more help, just got a free endorsement from the quarterback of one of the most visible franchises in American sports. Get this man a Team USA jersey next time. It is not complicated.
Between Alex Bregman getting on base like crazy, Seiya Suzuki dropping bombs in the Tokyo Dome, and Daniel Palencia firing 100+ for Venezuela, it's been a strong tournament for their respective clubs and the Cubs party as a whole.
After losing to Puerto Rico in walkoff fashion the night before, Panama rallied on a rainy night to beat Canada and secure their first victory of the tournament. This was a must-win game for a Canadian team that is looking to advance out of the group stage for the first time in the history of the WBC, and with Puerto Rico and Cuba both undefeated thus far, they now face an extremely tough road ahead.
Defending champion Japan became the first nation to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the World Baseball Classic, then rallied on Masataka Yoshida, two-run homer in the seventh inning to beat Australia 4-3 on Sunday night and assure first place in its first-round group.
For Japan, it was the Seiya Suzuki show, as the outfielder launched two home runs, both off Ko, to help Japan etch out an early 5-3 lead heading into the fourth inning. Shohei Ohtani and Masataka Yoshida added to the home run fun early, helping create the early lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning with the Netherlands down by two runs to Nicaragua with two men on base and down to their final out, Ozzie came up huge for his squad and ended up making history in the process. Angel Obando threw a fastball right down the middle and Ozzie made no mistake with it, as he crushed it into the seats in right-center field in order to hit the very first walk-off home run in World Baseball Classic history.
Ozzie Albies hit a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Netherlands over Nicaragua on Saturday. The Netherlands began its two-out rally on Ceddanne Rafaela's single against reliever Angel Obando. Xander Bogaerts doubled, advancing Rafaela to third before Albies hit Obando's first pitch over the wall in right.
A 10th-round pick for Cleveland in the 2006 draft, Espino finally made it to the Show in March 2017 when he was 30 years and pitching with the Brewers. He tossed 24 total innings that season between the Brewers and Rangers and then didn't resurface in the majors again until 2020 when he was a member of the Nationals.
The catching prospect had two hits and hit a game tying home run in the sixth inning in Great Britain's game against Mexico. Great Britain ultimately lost to Mexico 8-2, but Ford played will and provided offensive firepower for the Brits.
One of the more interesting elements of the Classic are the faces in the dugouts -- where traditional divisional rivals such as Aaron Judge and Gunnar Henderson or Julio Rodriguez and Ketel Marte will suit up as teammates.
This week, Brett and I start with a conversation about the World Baseball Classic, what it means to us, who/what we're really rooting for, and what we hope to see from specific Cubs. After that, we get into the modestly viral Joe Maddon hot takes, one of which I actually think is very much correct.
Javier Assad threw 51 pitches in the outing, allowing nothing, and continuing to stretch himself out for the MLB regular season. He's done this before for Team Mexico, and it's really impressive how reliable he is in any capacity.
Nothing I believe that's going to take him out of game action, Vitello said. The Giants have already had one World Baseball Classic-related injury this week when left-hander Reiver Sanmartin injured his right hip flexor in Team Colombia's exhibition against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, forcing him to pull out of the tournament.
