Canada defeats Puerto Rico to stay alive at World Baseball Classic

[p]It's a win-or-go-home moment for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/8dIZ5DLr/"]Canada[/a] during March 11th's matchup against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cuba/2JHw5Xzk/"]Cuba[/a]. If they win, they take first place in Pool A. But should they lose, they're officially eliminated from the 2026 WBC. [/p][p]As for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/puerto-rico/v7R43VK7/"]Puerto Rico[/a], they had already punched their ticket to the next round. Now, they just wait on seeding to see if Canada will join them in the next round or Cuba.[/p][embed guid="a16ea973-b64d-4cce-a7e2-89479dc1b2b7" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2031578507470328010?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Recap and highlights [/h2][p]In a game that only saw five hits from both teams, there weren't many highlights to begin with. But when they came, they mattered the most. [/p][p][b]The game didn't take long to see its first score after Puerto Rico's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arenado-nolan/lA3NHbnk/"]Nolan Arenado[/a] singled home a run to make [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/canada-8dIZ5DLr/puerto-rico-v7R43VK7/?mid=SSsEZYnC"]1-0[/a]. [/b][/p][embed guid="d82b36e5-bbc4-42dd-ba67-6d4346e1da5d" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2031521702719410652?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]But after a scoreless second from both teams, Canada finally got on the board in the third with a pair of runs to take the lead. [/p][p][b]After loading the bases, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-neill-tyler/U7RkymsH/"]Tyler O'Neill[/a] walked home to score the first run before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/black-tyler/AFiu0PFp/"]Tyler Black[/a] did the same to go up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/canada-8dIZ5DLr/puerto-rico-v7R43VK7/?mid=SSsEZYnC"]2-1[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="3c985f66-ac9f-4553-af78-a5aabb851908" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2031532445489664070?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Puerto Rico would go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the third that left Canada to tally on their final run of the game - and that was all they needed. [/p][p][b]Then, in the top of the fourth, following an [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caissie-owen/CtHuQPY8/"]Owen Cassie[/a] double, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/toro-abraham/0KP6VUR2/"]Abraham Toro[/a] would be the one to bring him in with an RBI single to make [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/canada-8dIZ5DLr/puerto-rico-v7R43VK7/?mid=SSsEZYnC"]3-1[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="257e4739-7d41-43eb-9dc1-d2eb6f58bf7a" url="https://x.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/2031535824760627570?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]In the bottom half of the inning, Puerto Rico would respond almost immediately. Arenado and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rosario-eddie/Im28VcFq/"]Eddie Rosario[/a] would hit a pair of singles with no outs, followed by a sac-bunt from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vazquez-christian/WpRgrLjf/"]Christian Vázquez[/a] that would advance them to second and third. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maldonado-martin/hhmxBauR/"]Martin Maldonado[/a] would bring home Arenado on a groundout to make it [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/baseball/canada-8dIZ5DLr/puerto-rico-v7R43VK7/?mid=SSsEZYnC"]3-2[/a][/b], but that would be all she wrote for Puerto Rico the rest of the way as they finished the Pool stage with a 3-1 record.[/p][p]He finished the Pool stage leading Puerto Rico with five RBI - no other player had more than two. [/p][p]It's now or never for Canada. [/p][embed guid="92db53c5-e7e7-4807-a595-729f60f244a1" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLd-WkQyIa8" social-type="youtube" /]