WBC Daily: Four Teams Advance To Quarterfinals; USA Beats Mexico

We have four quarterfinal teams for the World Baseball Classic. And we were treated to a thriller in Houston with Team USA taking down Mexico.Taking in all the action from Monday’s full slate of games: JUMP TO: Korea Advances, Ousts Aussies | Tatis Grand Slam in D.R. Win | Great Britain Takes Down Brazil | Colombia Outlasts Panama | Acuña Shines Again | Puerto Rico Cruises Past Cuba | Judge, Anthony Lift USA Past Mexico Korea Heads to Quarterfinals Congrats to Korea! The first team into quarterfinals is in. The team is moving past the first round for the first time since 2009 by beating Australia at the Tokyo Dome behind four RBIs from Bo Gyeong Moon, who leads the tournament with 11. Australia would have advanced with a win or a loss by four runs or fewer, but instead will be exiting the tournament in tough fashion. The Aussies got one player on base in the ninth but could bring him home, with pinch-hitter Logan Wade popping up to Moon for the final out. D.R. With Another Romp, Into Quarterfinals Fernando Tatis had a day. With a grand slam and six RBIs, the Padres’ superstar has the Dominican Republic into the quarterfinals after a 10-1 win over Israel. Tatis’ six RBIs tied Adrian González in 2009 for second-most in a WBC game, one behind Ken Griffey Jr.’s record in 2006. The Dominicans (3-0) lead Group D over Venezuela (2-0), which also clinched a quarterfinal berth due to the Dominicans’ win. Great Britain Ends on High Note With pride at stake between two already-eliminated teams, Great Britain notched a win over Brazil at the World Baseball Classic. Ian Lewis Jr. homered with two RBIs and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added two hits with three RBIs to lead Britain in a one-hitter. Brazil will finish the tournament at 0-4. Team GB’s Matt Koperniak hit a run-scoring single in the seventh off 17-year-old Joseph Contreras — a son of former major league pitcher José Contreras — and Chisholm added a two-run single in the eighth. Colombia Gets First Win Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a two-run single in a four-run sixth inning for already-eliminated Colombia and and ensured Panama cannot advance from Group A. Panama’s Jonathan Arauz exchanged shouts and pushes with manager José Mayorga when the pinch hitter returned to the dugout after grounding out leading off the ninth. Araúz had not run hard out of the batter’s box. Acuña Shines Again As Venezueal Into Quarters Ronald Acuña Jr. continues to deliver for Venezuela. The Toronto Blue Jays star homered and drove in two runs as Venezuela remained unbeaten in Group D with a 4-0 victory over Nicaragua at Miami. Acuña is now tied with his Venezuela teammate Luis Arráez for the most runs in this year’s tournament, and with one fewer at-bat. Venezuela (3-0) and the Dominican Republic (3-0) will play to determine the pool winner Wednesday night. Both teams have advanced to the quarterfinals. Nicaragua finished 0-4 and remains winless in eight tournament games. Puerto Rico Reaches Quarterfinals Martín Maldonado’s three-run double in the bottom of the second inning helped Puerto Rico beat Cuba and book a spot into the quarterfinals. That was enough of a cushion for All-Star closer Edwin Díaz, who just needed 12 pitches to finish off the night. Puerto Rico has advanced out of the group stage in all six World Baseball Classics, joining Japan as the only two teams to do so. Team USA Holds On Mexico didn’t make it easy, but team USA held on. Aaron Judge’s two-run home run and Roman Anthony’s three-run shot gave the USA a 5-3 win over Mexico in Houston. Garrett Whitlock forced Alek Thomas, who was the tying run, to ground out, securing the save and USA the 5-3 victory. Paul Skenes earned the win in Monday’s game after pitching four scoreless innings. When Skenes was pulled from the game, Mexico surged back with Jarren Duran hitting two home runs off Matthew Boyd. After that scare, the bullpen locked down and helped USA improve to 3-0.