Sunday was a historic day for Team Mexico, who not only grabbed their first victory of the 2023 World Baseball Classic but beat a star-studded Team USA in the process by a score of 11-5. Los Angeles Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval started this game and tossed three impressive innings to notch the win and dropped an honest admission after the Mexicans moved to 1-1 in the tournament.
Via Kyle Glaser:
“This is up there with some of the greatest nights of my career,” Sandoval said.
In fairness, Sandoval does play for the Angels. He's never even sniffed the playoffs, so it's not a surprise for him to say Sunday's win was memorable in his baseball career. It was probably a bittersweet moment for Sandoval though because the southpaw grew up in California.
For Mexico as a whole though, it's a game they will never forget. Beating Team USA in soccer is one thing, but in baseball is even more special.
The Mexicans banged out a whopping 15 hits against American arms, with Washington Nationals prospect Joey Meneses smacking a pair of homers, finishing 3 for 5 with five RBI.
As for Sandoval, he allowed just two hits across three frames and one run, striking out two and giving up a pair of free passes as well. He's one of the best pitchers on this staff and will surely be used again. Mexico is now looking ahead to a matchup with Great Britain on Tuesday, a team who has yet to win in their World Baseball Classic debut.
It won't be easy for Mexico to advance out of this group, but after such a convincing win over the US, anything is possible.
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