PHOENIX -- When he travels in his native Mexico, Jorge Cantu hears one sport talked about more than any other.
"Back in our country, all they talk about is soccer," the second baseman said, "in Mexico City, and south. So we want to let our people know how important baseball is, and all the talent we have."
Team Mexico delivered that message on Thursday night, when it beat Canada, 9-1, to advance to the World Baseball Classic\'s second round as Pool B\'s No. 1 seed. Mexico will face Korea, which advanced from Pool A, in its opening game on Sunday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
Canada entered the game with a 2-0 record and some momentum after beating the United States on Wednesday afternoon, but this contest belonged to Mexico from the start, as it jumped on left-hander Jeff Francis for four runs in the first inning.
Francis retired the first two Mexico hitters before plunking Vinny Castilla with a pitch. That\'s when the wheels came off, as four straight Mexico hitters doubled, resulting in a 4-0 advantage.
"It really did happen very quick," Francis said. "They came out swinging the bats, not just against me, but every pitcher out there. They didn\'t get deep into a lot of counts. I left pitches up, and good hitters are going to hit pitches like that."
Mexico chased Francis one inning later, when Cantu smacked a two-run homer to push the lead to 6-0.
That was more than enough for Esteban Loaiza, who was effective with his cut fastball, and changed speeds throughout his five-plus innings of work. The right-hander allowed just three hits, and while he did allow a run, it scored after he left the game.
"I think I went out there today trying to hit my spots and change speeds, and throw my sinkers and cutters on both sides of the plate," Loaiza said. "I think the first two hitters that I faced, I noticed they were looking inside, so I kept away and away."
In its first two games of the Classic, Canada scored 19 runs, but it could do little with Loaiza.
"He just kept us off stride tonight," Canada manager Ernie Whitt said.
Mexico\'s schedule |
| Round 2, Pool 1 Anaheim, Calif. |
| Sunday vs. Korea, 11 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday vs. Japan, 7 p.m. ET |
| Thursday vs. USA, 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Full schedule > |
A 21-game winner for the White Sox in 2003, Loaiza is no stranger to success on the mound, but he knew what was riding on his right arm Thursday night, and it wasn\'t just a matter of his team advancing to the second round.
"It was a very important game for all of us Mexicans," Loaiza said. "We played in the United States, representing our country, Mexico. We just need to go out there and put ourselves in a situation where we need to win, and get Mexican baseball really high.
"You\'ve got the Dominican, you\'ve got Cuba, you\'ve got Venezuela, but [they] never mention Mexico. We see on TV previews, commercials representing every country, but not Mexico, so I think we have to prove ourselves on the field to get all the way that high."
Cantu drove in three runs on Thursday night, and hit .385 with six RBIs in the Classic\'s first three games.
"We play with pride," Cantu said. "And the other thing is, wearing Mexico right on your chest means something. All the Latin people are watching. All the American people are watching. Everybody\'s watching."
Trailing 9-1, Canada\'s one last shot at getting back in the game came in the sixth. Loaiza started the inning by walking Stubby Clapp, and was removed in favor of Oliver Perez.
The left-hander struggled with his command and had a rather unique six-batter stretch: walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout, walk (to force in a run), and finally, another strikeout.
"We were prepared for Mexico, [but] they came out and swung the bats, and we didn\'t. You tip your hat to Mexico," Whitt said. "They did a nice job, and we just lost the game."', tagline: 'Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com.', summary: null, article_photo: { caption: 'Mexico\'s Geronimo Gil is greeted by teammates after scoring in the first inning.', credit: 'Matt York/AP', path: '/images/2006/03/09/xZ4pNqXI.jpg' }, sub_headline: 'Loaiza tosses gem after club builds first-inning cushion', alt_headline: 'Mexico advances after routing Canada', related_links: null, headline: 'Mexico advances from Pool B' }