Mexico mashes 4 homers in run-rule rout, setting up showdown vs. U.S.

HOUSTON -- The Team Mexico electric factory has arrived in full force -- and the showdown with Team USA is on.

Mexico’s bats erupted in a 16-0, six-inning run-rule-shortened drubbing of Brazil in their second game of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday. The offense is firing on all cylinders heading into the marquee matchup of Pool B: undefeated Mexico vs. undefeated Team USA on Monday night (8 p.m. ET on FOX).

"I've said this before -- they are a super team," Mexico manager Benji Gil said of the United States. "They have a roster full of stars. They've got All-Stars, MVP candidates, Cy Young candidates, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers.

"But it's not about awards. It's about winning one game."

Julian Ornelas delivered the game-clinching home run in the bottom of the sixth, a two-run shot to right field that ended the game by WBC rules because Mexico was winning by 15 runs after at least five innings.

"I will place this home run as the most important one in my career so far," said Ornelas, who plays for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League. "The fact that I'm wearing these colors on such a huge stage gives even more importance to that home run."

Mexico's 16-0 win over Brazil was tied for the third-largest margin of victory in any game in World Baseball Classic history, behind only Korea's 22-2 win over China in the 2023 Classic and the United States' 17-0 win over South Africa in the inaugural 2006 Classic. This was also tied for Mexico's most runs scored in any WBC game, along with a 16-1 win over Australia in 2009.

The Mexican stars shone against Brazil, with Daikin Park packed with Mexico fans -- the crowd of 36,380 in Houston was a sea of green, white and red.

Alejandro Kirk, returning for his second World Baseball Classic, delivered the biggest blow: a three-run homer to deep left-center field that pushed Mexico's lead to 10 in the fourth inning.

Jarren Duran also got to don the team's celebratory tricolor sombrero by knocking his own first home run of the WBC -- as his dad went crazy in the stands.

Jonathan Aranda opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, then came racing around the bases to score himself on Kirk's double one batter later -- his helmet flying off his head as he rounded third base, dove into home and delivered an emphatic "safe" signal as he beat the throw to the plate.

And Randy Arozarena, the hero of Mexico's 2023 WBC semifinal run, got in on the action with a double and two runs scored.

All four of those players are MLB All-Stars. But it wasn't just them. Every batter in the Mexico starting lineup recorded a hit on Sunday. Mexico pounded out 16 hits in total -- and held Brazil, which is still looking for its first-ever WBC win, to just three.

Now comes the United States -- a rival that Mexico has gotten the better of on the World Baseball Classic stage. Mexico has won three of the countries' four meetings at the WBC, including in 2023.

"It's become a rivalry when maybe it should never have been a rivalry," Gil said. "Maybe their rival should be Japan, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico. But it's become a rivalry because we've had success.

"The tickets sell quick, right? It's a big ticket. It's a big ticket, just as a sporting event, not just a baseball game. It's one of the most anticipated baseball events of the year.

"And credit to the ugly duckling, which is Mexico, that maybe never should have been their rival. But we've done it by doing our job on the field."

Entering Monday's clash of titans, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said: "Honestly, I think we have the best 30 players in the world in that clubhouse."

Gil responded to that on Sunday.

"Does he have the 30 best players in the world? I think the Dominican Republic has something to say about that. I think Japan has something to say about that, too," Gil said.

He added: "We know they're great. I mean, they're great. They're a great team. But we're just going to try to be just a tiny bit better. Even if we win by half a run, we'll take it."

Along the way, the crowds for Mexico's games in Houston have been ear-shatteringly loud, even compared to the ones Team USA has drawn. So the atmosphere when the two teams meet, with first place in Pool B on the line, should be like an MLB postseason game -- if not beyond that.

"I think tomorrow is probably going to be similar to tonight, but like times two or times three," said Alek Thomas, who homered on Sunday. "The Mexican crowd always shows out. And this seems like the place that Mexico fans like to go crazy."

When Ramon Ayala’s "Tragos Amargos" came on at the end of the fifth inning, it seemed like every Mexico fan in the stadium was singing at the top of their lungs. As the song played, the Daikin Park video board panned from one fan to the next, showing some in lucha libre masks, others draped in the Mexican flag and many more wearing Team Mexico jerseys.

The love is mutual between Team Mexico and their fans. Arozarena was even signing autographs in the middle of the game.

Aranda said before Mexico's win that these WBC games would top even World Series games in his eyes.

"There's no comparison," Aranda said. "It just has been better because nothing compares to you representing your own country and having the name on your chest. There's no comparison."

From when the fans sang the Mexican national anthem at the start of the game to when they serenaded the team with Vicente Fernández's "El Rey" as the players walked off the field at the end of it, the decibel level never dropped.

"Hearing the national anthem was something so beautiful that it gives me chills," Ornelas said. "I can't wait until tomorrow's game, being in front of that crowd in this stadium. It's going to be a spectacle for everyone."

"It's really awesome to hear those songs after a victory," Gil said. "I'd say that the only thing that sucks is, I'm trying to get inside so I can go get a shot of tequila to celebrate -- because you can't drink water with those songs."