Mexico
Great Britain
Great Britain kicked off Pool B of the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Houston on Friday with an 8-2 defeat against Mexico. Harry Ford homered – his third in five career World Baseball Classic games – and Trayce Thompson added a pair of hits, including an RBI double, in the defeat.
Jack Anderson – the son of former Luton Town midfielder Peter Anderson – got the start for Great Britain, and went the first three innings for GB, allowing two hits and striking out three. In the first, Harry Ford tallied GB’s first hit of the tournament but was stranded aboard. In the second inning, Nacho Alvarez Jr opened the scoring for Mexico, with the first home run of Pool B to give the away side a 1-0 lead.
From the second, both pitching staff’s traded zeros, with Nick Wells coming on in the fourth, and working a pair of scoreless frames.
The fifth inning saw Great Britain with their first runner in scoring position. With two out, Ian Lewis Jr. singled and reached third on Trayce Thompson’s single after a review at second, but Chisholm flew out to right to end the innings.
Ryan Long entered for Great Britain in the sixth and worked around a pair of baserunners – with a great Thompson catch in right field to support – to keep the deficit at 1.
Nate Eaton flew out to centre to start the bottom of the sixth, and with one out, co-captain Ford stepped to the plate. He launched a home run into the left field bleachers, his third in five career Classic games, and the game was tied at one.
Gary Gill Hill (0-1) entered and stifled Mexico’s bats for the seventh and gave way in the eighth with a pair of runners on to Tristan Beck, who was greeted by a three-run shot off the bat of Johanthan Aranda to give Mexico the 4-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, Mexico’s Victor Vodnik retired the first two batters before issuing a pair of walks to put BJ Murray and Matt Koperniak on base. Kristian Robinson worked the count full, but Vodnik induced a ground ball to end the threat and send the game to the ninth.
Mexico’s bats came alive in the ninth and four more runners crossed the plate, but Great Britain would claw back a run against Andre Munoz, with Ian Lewis Jr. crossing the plate on a Trayce Thompson RBI double, but it was not enough as the comeback fell short.
Great Britain will have their longest break of World Baseball Classic Pool B as they will face the United States tomorrow evening in Houston. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM CDT and 1 AM (+1) GMT.
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