Puerto Rico v Mexico: World Baseball Classic quarter-finals – live!

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Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 3rd inning

Arozarena gets Mexico’s second hit of the game, a two-out single. I’ll say this: the pace of this game is quite fun so far!

Oh no, did I just jinx it?

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 3rd inning

Austin Barnes makes his first appearance at the batter’s box. It doesn’t last long, he takes a sinker just on the edge for strike three for the second out of the inning. Filthy.

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 3rd inning

Alek Thomas is up next and he tries to outrun a groundball to first but can’t quite do it. Just an out.

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, top 3rd inning

Emmanuel Rivera, who drove in the first run of the game, also grounds out to third. A second straight 1-2-3 inning for a settled-down Urías.

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, top 3rd inning

Velázquez flies out to Thomas in the outfield. Two down, super-quick. I barely have time to keep up (note: this is not me commanding them to play slower).

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, top 3rd inning

Hernández is up again and he grounds out to third. One up, one down in the third.

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 2nd inning

Alan Trejo is up next, with two down. He gets ahead of the count 3-1 and drives one really, really long but it stays in the yards and is just a loud out. Still Mexico has at least closed the gap here early and there is a lot of time left.

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 2nd inning

Now it’s another Urías, Luis Urías, in the game for Mexico but he just swiftly flies out. Stroman isn’t rattled apparently.

Home run! (Isaac Paredes, Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico)

Puerto Rico 4-1 Mexico, bottom 2nd inning

Stroman is no longer cruising, Isaac Paredes hits a solo home run to put Mexico on the board! The team desperately needed that!

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, bottom 2nd inning

Rowdy Tellez is up and he pops up. Stroman continues to cruise.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, top 2nd inning

Francisco Lindor strikes out to end the inning, that’s the good news for Mexico. The bad news is that the rough first inning means that Urías is over halfway to his pitch count limit (65 pitches).

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, top 2nd inning

Martín Maldonado is up next and he strikes out on a 2-2 count. Urías looks sharper this time around.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, top 2nd inning

Urías gets Neftali Soto to strike out swinging to start the second.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, bottom 1st inning

Stroman just needs 10 pitches to get through the first after inducing a Joey Meneses groundout. That was exactly what Mexico didn’t need.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, bottom 1st inning

Alex Verdugo, who I accidentally mentally body-swapped with Emmanuel Rivera earlier in this liveblog (my apologies) quickly grounds out to short for out number two.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, bottom 1st inning

Randy Arozarena is up against Marcus Stroman. He’s certainly a guy who can get an offense fired up. He falls behind 1-2 early before tapping out weakly. Not so much there, I guess.

I’m going to be honest, I was very much hoping for a closer game than it looks like we might be getting. Still, if Mexico can cut into the lead early, this still could be quite competitive.

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Can Christian Vázquez keep the line moving for Puerto Rico? He gets ahead of the count 3-1, pops one up foul for a full count and then fouls off the next pitch. Still 3-2. He gets good wood on a pitch but this one stays in the yard for a simple flyout.

Mexico will be up next, but they are already in a deep hole.

Home run! (Eddie Rosario, Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico)

Puerto Rico 4-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

On the very next pitch, Eddie Rosario immediately goes yard to put Puerto Rico ahead 4-0. Urías has nothing early.

Two-Run Home Run (Javier Báez, Puerto Rico 3-0 Mexico))

Puerto Rico 3-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Javier Báez is up next, with a runner on second and two outs.

SACRIFICE FLY! (Emmanuel Rivera, Puerto Rico 1-0 Mexico)

Puerto Rico 1-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Emmanuel Rivera is up with a chance to drive in a run. He almost does on the second pitch he sees, but it only goes foul. On a 2-1 offering, he hits one into the outfield for a sacrifice fly that puts Puerto Rico on top early!

Puerto Rico 0-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Nelson Velázquez hits a base hit that puts Hernández on third base, runners on the corner with just one out. This gives Puerto Rico a chance to score a run on an out.

Puerto Rico 0-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Up next is Kiké Hernández from the Boston Red Sox. He works a full count against Urías and takes ball four. Puerto Rico has its first baserunner.

First pitch

Puerto Rico 0-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Lindor is in the box against Urías and takes ball one to start the game. Urías gets ahead of Lindor 1-2, Lindor fouls off a pitch and then strikes out. Urías begins his outing with a k.

Alright, the race car driver program has ended on FS1 so it’s now time for the World Baseball Classic coverage to start. First pitch should be relatively shortly!

For the record, USA v Venezuela will be on right around this time tomorrow and we’ll be here liveblogging that game at the Guardian as well! WBC fever catch it!

Some controversy about the fact that Mexico is playing this game when they are. It turns out that there may have been some television-rating-related shenanigans going on behind the scenes.

I just tried to explain to one of my roommates what the WBC is and why it’s important. For instance, how big is today’s game for Puerto Rico? Potentially quite large!

Predictions

These are two talented baseball rosters, so let’s assume that the mercy rule would not be needed today even if were in effect (that was for poor play only). Now, don’t quote me on this, but it feels like Puerto Rico is a better team, particularly with the likes of Francisco Lindor and Javier Báez in the lineup. They will feel the loss of Díaz, but they still might have the edge in relievers. I’m going to guess Puerto Rico will be Mexico 4-3 Mexico and go on to face Japan in the WBC semifinals on Monday.

Granted, Mexico just upset the United States and has ace Julio Urias going for them on the mound on full rest so I very much could be wrong. Have a prediction? You can email it to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet it to @HunterFelt. We’ll include it here.

Mexico starting lineup

1. Randy Arozarena. LF

2. Alex Verdugo, RF

3. Joey Menses, 1B

4. Rowdy Tellez, DH

5. Isaac Paredes, 3B

6. Luis Urías, 2B

7. Alan Trejo, SS

8. Alex Thomas, CF

9. Austin Barnes, C

SP: Julio Urías

Puerto Rico starting lineup

1. Francisco Lindor, SS

2. Enrique Hernández, CF

3. Nelson Velázquez, RF

4. Emmanuel Rivera, 3B

5. Javier Báez, 2B

6. Eddie Rosario, LF

7. Christian Vázquez, DH

8. Neftali Soto, 1B

9. Martín Maldonado, C

Starting Pitcher, Marcus Stroman

Preamble

Welcome to the Guardian’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal matchup between Mexico and Puerto Rico! The World Baseball Classic, for those unaware, is a true world series of baseball between teams composed of players representing countries across the planet (although some players may have closer ties to their representative country than others). While it’s still considered something of a novelty in the United States, make no mistake that for the individual countries involved there is a lot of national pride on the line.

So, here we have Mexico, who edged out the U.S. to capture the top spot in Pool C, up against Puerto Rico, who eliminated the Dominican Republic in order to advance from Pool D. There has been a lot of drama in these pool play matchups, but unfortunately, they have been overshadowed by the knee injury suffered by New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz during Puerto Rico’s postgame celebration after they defeated the highly-favored Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

This injury has led to arguments in the baseball world about whether MLB players should participate in the WBC. While it’s understandable that a diehard Mets fan would be upset at the loss of their All-Star closer and seek some entity to blame for his freak accident, it’s important to remember that it’s not like players are not suffering injuries in spring training either. These are not just lowly exhibition games either, these WBC games mean a lot to the players and the countries they represent (including the US).

That said, nobody wants to see any players go down. Let’s hope that the remainder of this tournament will be remembered for baseball-related reasons rather than any further misfortunes. If you want to contribute to today’s liveblog, feel free to tweet at @HunterFelt or send an email to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com and we’ll use your thoughts.

It’s the quarterfinal matchup between Puerto Rico and Mexico at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. Our game, which is being televised in the U.S. on Fox Sports 1, is set to start at 7:00 pm EST, but we’ll be back beforehand with predictions, starting lineups and other things before then.

Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look back at Puerto Rico’s bittersweet triumph on Wednesday night against the Dominican Republic.