U.S. Loses to Mexico in World Baseball Classic Opener

Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in three runs, seven pitchers handcuffed United States hitters all night and Mexico rebounded from a disappointing opening loss with a decisive 5-2 win over the Americans in Pool D of the World Baseball Classic on Friday.

Coming off a last-inning loss to Italy, Mexico (1-1) tagged U.S. starter R.A. Dickey for four runs in the first three innings, including a two-run homer by Gonzalez in the third.

Yovani Gallardo got Mexico off to a good start with 3 1-3 solid innings and Luis Cruz had two RBIs to give a boisterous, pro-Mexico crowd of 44,256 plenty to cheer about at Chase Field.

Team USA (0-1) never recovered after Dickey's early struggles, managing six singles among its eight hits while stranding eight runners in opening the WBC with a dud.

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