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GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Esteban Quiroz and Brandon Laird each hit a three-run homer, and Mexico beat Venezuela 11-9 early Monday at the World Baseball Classic.
Despite the victory, Mexico was eliminated. Venezuela will play Italy in a one-game tiebreaker Monday night, with the winner advancing to the second round.
Venezuela rallied for an 11-10 victory over Italy in 10 innings on Saturday.
Mexico, Italy and Venezuela all finished 1-2 in the first round of pool play behind Puerto Rico, which went 3-0. Mexico was eliminated on a tiebreaker — runs allowed per inning played.
At first, however, Venezuela players thought they were the team that had been knocked out.
The World Baseball Classic Twitter account initially announced that Monday's tiebreaker game would be between Mexico and Italy. But then officials informed Venezuela of the correct calculation in the club's locker room. The original tweet was deleted, and Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel said his players were surprised to hear the good news.
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