Day 5 of the 2026 World Baseball Classic started with a near-cycle and a whole lot of math. South Korea’s Bo Gyeong Moon rocketed a 430-foot homer to open the scoring gates at the Tokyo Dome and then added an RBI double and an RBI single to help his team establish a 5-0 lead over Australia in a must-win game in Pool C action on Monday.

A deep dive into why Seattle Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena is representing Mexico a the the 2026 World Baseball Classic despite being a native of Cuba.

In the WBC’s first game on Monday, South Korea beat Australia 7-2 to reach the quarterfinals from Pool C. That gave South Korea a 2-2 record in pool play, identical to Australia and Chinese Taipei — and South Korea’s seventh run against the Aussies swung the run-quotient tiebreaker in their favor.

The World Baseball Classic reaches a critical day with seven games that will go a long way in determining the teams that advance to the quarterfinals.

Mexico has been part of all World Baseball Classics heading into 2026 and has qualified once again. Team Mexico finished in third place in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the first year under the tutelage of Benji Gil.

Mexico is off to its best start ever at a World Baseball Classic. Now the team just has to keep things rolling against Brazil on Sunday night at Daikin Park to set up a must-see showdown with Team USA.