During Monday evening’s World Baseball Classic matchup at Daikin Park in Houston, the United States secured a 5-3 victory against Mexico, propelled by a two-run home run from Aaron Judge and a three-run shot from Roman Anthony during a high-scoring third inning.
With this win, the U.S. team advanced its record to 3-0 and is slated to face Italy (currently 2-0) on Tuesday night, aiming to solidify its qualification for the quarterfinal stage taking place in Houston later this week.
Jarren Duran contributed two home runs for Mexico, whose record stands at 2-1. Mexico is scheduled to play Italy on Wednesday evening, marking the final contest for Group B.
A capacity crowd of 41,628 spectators attended the game, with a clear majority expressing support for the Mexican side.
Paul Skenes, the current holder of the National League Cy Young Award, allowed just a single hit and recorded seven strikeouts across four innings. This performance helped the U.S. achieve a victory against Mexico in the WBC, a feat not accomplished since 2006, contrasting with their 11-5 defeat to Mexico in 2023.
The American team held a three-run advantage as the eighth inning commenced. However, Duran launched his second home run off Matthew Boyd. Following this, Boyd delivered a pitch that struck Randy Arozarena’s arm, but he recovered to strike out Jonathan Aranda.
Griffin Jax subsequently entered the game, prompting Alejandro Kirk to hit a ground ball that resulted in a double play, thereby concluding the inning.
In the third inning, with no outs, Bryce Harper singled after hitting a ball that struck relief pitcher Jesus Cruz on the leg. Immediately after, Judge connected for a hit to right field, putting the American squad ahead 2-0 and marking his second home run of the competition.
After Kyle Schwarber singled and Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch with one out recorded, Anthony then launched his home run to right-center, extending the lead to 5-0.
Duran hit a home run for the second consecutive game, a solo blast off Boyd in the sixth inning with one out, narrowing the deficit to 5-1. Later in the inning, with two runners on base and two outs, Joey Meneses singled, driving in a run to bring the score to 5-2.
