Puerto Rico held a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh in their World Baseball Classic quarter-final against Mexico. Alex Verdugo led off with a hustle double, sliding in just ahead of the tag. Randy Arozarena came up next and worked a walk after refusing to chase a series of wide pitches. That walk loaded the bases with no outs. Puerto Rico brought in Lopez from the bullpen, and he came through with two big strikeouts, including a controversial called third strike on Rowdy Tellez.
Lopez had two outs but then gave up a hard-hit single that tied the game at 4-4. Mexico wasn’t done. Another base hit scored a run to make it 5-4. Arozarena made a big play in the top of the eighth. A line drive to left looked like extra bases, but he took an awkward route, leapt, and made the grab to save the lead. He doubled off the Puerto Rican runner who had taken off early. The crowd and even his teammates in the bullpen went wild. Yadier Molina, managing Puerto Rico, looked stunned.
Arozarena kept clapping his hands after every strike to pump up his pitchers. He didn’t need the glove anymore, except for the one catch that changed the game. Mexico held the lead and closed it out. They advanced with a 5-4 win, thanks to strong relief pitching and Arozarena’s clutch defense.