A pair of Seattle Mariners stars had a hand in Mexico's World Baseball Classic victory on Friday afternoon.

The Mexican squad won its pool play opener 8-2 against Great Britain as Randy Arozarena went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and Andres Munoz threw the bottom of the ninth inning.

Arozarena also threw a runner out at the plate in a key situation, while Munoz gave up two hits and a run, striking out two.

Arozarena was the star of the Mexican group in 2023 and helped them advance to the WBC semifinals, where they were beaten by Japan.

Harry Ford, former M's top prospect, hit a home run for Britain. 

It was noted by the FS1 broadcast that the Mariners, Munoz and Mexico have an agreement in place for how he will be used in the tournament.

Previously unknown, at least by me, the Mariners have said that Munoz needs two days off after his first appearance and one day off after his second appearance.

Mexico is off on Saturday before playing Brazil on Sunday. Munoz cannot pitch in that game based on these rules. He would be eligible to pitch for Mexico on Monday against Team USA, which makes sense, considering Mexico would like him available for a contest against the Americans.

If he does pitch that day, Mexico is off on Tuesday, which would make Munoz available to pitch on Wednesday against Italy.

Acquired from the San Diego Padres during the COVID 2020 season, Munoz has turned into one of the best relievers in baseball. Now 27 years old, he's a six-year veteran of the Padres and Mariners. With a career 13-23 lifetime record, he has a 2.43 ERA. He had 38 saves for the M's in 2025 as they advanced to the American League Championship Series. He had a minuscule 1.73 ERA, striking out 83 batters in 62.1 innings.

He pairs with Matt Brash, Eduard Bazardo and Gabe Speier to make up an excellent back end of the bullpen.

Bazardo threw a scoreless inning for Team Venezuela on Friday, while Julio Rodriguez (Dominican Republic), Cal Raleigh (USA) and Speier (USA) are all in action as well. Michael Arroyo and Guillo Zuniga (Colombia) will battle Josh Naylor (Canada) on Saturday morning (8 a.m. PT).

As for the Mariners, they'll take on the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon at 12:10 p.m. PT.

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