Mexico defeated Puerto Rico and advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

Mexico, which advanced to the quarterfinals after finishing first in Group C, won a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Puerto Rico, second in Group D, 5-4 in a game held at Londipo Park in Miami, Florida, USA on the 18th (Korean time).

It is the first time ever that Mexico has reached the WBC semifinal stage. In 2006 and 2009, he reached the quarterfinals in a row, but failed to advance to the semifinals, and in 2013 and 2017, he was eliminated in the first round. With this, Mexico will compete against Japan at Londipor Park on the 21st to advance to the final.

Puerto Rico, who finished runner-up twice in a row (2013 and 2017), tasted the pain of ending the tournament in the quarterfinals for the first time in 14 years since 2009. Puerto Rico coach Yadier Molina, a legendary catcher who won second place in the WBC twice as a player, failed to advance to the semifinals in this first tournament as a coach.

Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs), who competed as the US national team in 2017 and won the championship and MVP of the tournament, competed in Puerto Rico, the “mother country” of this tournament, and tried to win another championship, but was blocked by Mexico.

Puerto Rico took the lead in the first inning with a sacrifice fly by Emmanuel Rivera (Arizona Diamondbacks) to right field from 1st out, 1st and 3rd base, which resulted in a walk by Enrique Hernandez (Boston Red Sox) and a heavy hit by Nelson Veraquez (Chicago Cubs). pulled out Then, Javier Baez (Detroit Tigers) drew a two-run arch over the right wall after hitting a 149 km/h fastball from Mexican ace Julio Urias (Los Angeles Dodgers). The next batter, Eddie Rosario (Atlanta Braves), also crossed the center fence, giving Puerto Rico a 4-0 lead.

But Mexico did not give up. In the bottom of the second inning, with no runners out, Isaac Paredes (Tampa Bay Rays) attacked Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs) and fired a left-handed solo shot.

In the 5th inning, with one out and bases loaded, Alex Verdugo hit a lucky one RBI hit that landed in front of the center fielder.

Mexico overturned the game in the bottom of the 7th inning. Hoei Meneses (Washington Nationals) and Loudy Telles (Milwaukee Brewers) withdrew from the bases loaded without sacrificing bases, but Paredes struck a timely hit with two RBIs flying toward the left fielder with the bases loaded with two outs. In the ensuing 2nd, 1st and 3rd bases, Luis Urias (Milwaukee) hit a timely hit in front of the right fielder to score a come-from-behind score of 5 to 4.

In the top of the 9th inning, Giovanni Gallegos (St. Louis Cardinals) struck out Hernandez in the last crisis with 2 out, 1st and 2nd base, and secured a ticket to the semifinals. 스포츠토토