Aaron Judge's homer helps lift USA over Mexico in WBC

Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Roman Anthony added a three-run shot in a big third inning to lead the United States to a 5-3 victory over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic at Daikin Park in Houston on Monday night. The United States improved to 3-0 and will face Italy (2-0) on Tuesday night, looking to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals in Houston this weekend. Jarren Durán hit two home runs for Mexico (2-1), which will face Italy on Wednesday night in the final game of Group B. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 41,628 who were decidedly pro-Mexico. Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes allowed one hit and struck out seven in four innings as the United States avenged an 11-5 loss to Mexico in the 2023 WBC. The United States led by three entering the eighth inning before Duran drove Matthew Boyd deep for his second home run. Boyd then hit Randy Arozarena in the arm with a pitch before striking out Jonathan Aranda. Griffin Jax took control and induced a double play groundout by Alejandro Kirk to end the inning. Bryce Harper singled on a ball that hit reliever Jesús Cruz in the leg with no outs in the third inning. Judge, who also had an assist in the outfield, continued his drive to right field to put the Americans up 2-0 and give him two home runs in the tournament. Kyle Schwarber singled and Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch with one out before Anthony's home run to right-center field increased the lead to 5-0. Durán homered for the second straight game with his solo shot off Boyd that cut the lead to 5-1 with one out in the sixth. There were two in and two out when Joey Meneses singled to make the score 5-2.