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Los Angeles Dodgers ace Julio Urías kicked off the World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico in their matchup against Colombia, but couldn't get the win after surrendering three earned runs on three hits in the 5-4 loss.
Thankfully, Mexico was able to rip off back-to-back wins against Team USA (11-5) and Team Great Britain (2-1) to put themselves in a position to control their own destiny. They'll now face Team Canada at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 15.
Mexico is through the pool stage with a win (same goes for Canada). If they lose, it gets a bit complicated, though. With a loss and a USA win, Mexico is out ... but with a loss and a USA loss, we have a three-way tie with Mexico, USA and Colombia.
And reading about the scenarios gives you a bit of a headache. That's why having an all-hands-on-deck mentality for Wednesday's contest is probably the move.
So that means Urías will be used on short rest out of the bullpen, right? Great, another potential injury concern for the Dodgers to sweat about after Freddie Freeman suffered a hamstring injury on Tuesday that will knock him out of Wednesday's game.
Well, not so fast! Mexico manager Benji Gil has Urías' long-term career in his best interests.
LA #Dodgers ace Julio Urias will not throw a single pitch Wednesday in Mexico's critical WBC game vs. Canada.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 15, 2023
Manager Benji Gil: "I would love to win this tournament....but I have to protect his career. If he would come out [of the bullpen], I would tackle him to stop him.''
Team Mexico manager is helping Dodgers with Julio Urías' usage in WBC
In a win-or-likely-go-home game, Urías will not be used in an emergency situation. While Dodgers fans are undoubtedly enjoying the WBC, this decision that ultimately hurts the product has them exhaling a sigh of relief.
You'll see him next if Mexico makes it to the knockout stage, which is now more likely than ever since Canada will be without its best player in Freeman.
Julio Urías is perfect through three innings 🇲🇽🔥
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 11, 2023
📺: COL vs MEX on FOX and the FOX Sports App pic.twitter.com/sYHyZGlNL4
The Dodgers allowing Urías to pitch in the WBC while holding Clayton Kershaw back speaks volumes, but the left-hander's longevity, especially heading into a contract year, obviously takes precedent.
LA fans saw what happened to him when he broke down at the tail end of the 2021 season after blowing past his career high in innings pitched by over 100 frames. Urías, Team Mexico, and the Dodgers need to be on top of the workload from now until the end of the 2023 season.