The defending world champions of baseball, Team USA, is in danger of getting eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, the sport's equivalent to soccer's World Cup. This came after a shocking loss to Mexico as the team's All-star lineup of MLB players was stunned by Mexico's red-hot hitting.

On paper, Team USA was offensively one of the best-hitting teams in the tournament. It had perennial MLB all-stars, many with World Series titles under their belt. However, they were out-batted by the Mexicans, whose fans cheered on their team at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mexico was coming from a loss to Colombia earlier in the tournament, while Team USA was red-hot after defeating Great Britain. It should have been a cakewalk for the Americans, but Washington Nationals player and Mexican slugger Joey Meneses just had to play spoiler in the first inning with a 2-run homer and then hit another home run resulting in three more runs for Mexico.

The United States struggled throughout as Mexico outhit the Americans with the final score of 15-8 in a shockingly-lopsided victory for the Mexicans. Kyle Tucker scored while Will Smith scored a solo home run, but not much offensively for the highly-favored Americans in this bout. Even superstar Mike Trout, team captain of Team USA, had some trouble in this game, which was marred by a lot of errors from the star-filled lineup.

 Great Britain Win Keeps Team USA Hopes Alive

The United States is in danger of getting eliminated after its loss to the Mexicans. While it is still likely that they would get second place and advance, this might set up an early showdown with the tournament's other favorites, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela.

However, after Colombia, which defeated Mexico, was defeated by Great Britain, which was defeated by the United States, with a final score of 7-5, this means that the Americans might still be able to advance to top the group.

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Much like Mexico, Colombia is also led by stars playing in the MLB. However, the Brits managed to upset the red-hot Colombians after Ian Gibaut recorded the final three outs for Great Britain in a landmark win for the country, which is still developing baseball in its soccer-dominated fanbase.

If Team USA beats Canada and Colombia, the Americans will automatically advance. Should the Canadians beat the Mexicans at the same time, the United States might even top the group.

Japan, Cuba, Italy, and Australia Move on to the Quarterfinals

Meanwhile, over the other side of the world, on the other group stages of the World Baseball Classic, Japan remained dominant with an impressive 4-0 record in Group B. They and Australia manage to qualify for the quarterfinals. The other favorite of the group, South Korea, was eliminated as they were upset by the Aussies but still had a record win over the Chinese.

As for Group A, Cuba topped the group, which was the most competitive of all the groups, with all countries having a record of 2-2. The ones who qualified for the quarterfinals were decided on the number of runs, with Cuba scoring 25, followed by Italy with 17. This meant that hosts Chinese Taipei, as well Panama, and the Netherlands have all been eliminated despite them also having a record of 2-2.

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Mexico vs. USA Game Highlights | 2023 World Baseball Classic - MLB