World Baseball Classic schedule: 3 quarterfinal spots up for grabs Wednesday

Wednesday is a busy day for the World Baseball Classic, with Pool C in Phoenix and Pool D in Miami ending, plus one of four quarterfinal games to start things off.

Cuba won Pool A in Taiwan, and will play Pool B runner-up Australia on Wednesday morning (3 a.m. PT, FS2), with the winner advancing to the semifinal round on Sunday.

In pool play, Wednesday is relatively light on Dodgers, with Freddie Freeman unlikely to play for Canada after leaving Tuesday’s game with hamstring tightness, and Julio Urías not able to pitch until the next round if Mexico advances out of Pool C.

David Peralta and undefeated Venezuela has already qualified for the next round as the winner of Pool D, so their game against Israel (9 a.m., FS2) doesn’t mean anything. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will play later in the day (4 p.m., FS1) for the other quarterfinal berth.

In Pool C, Mexico, Canada and Team USA are all 2-1, so the winner of Mexico vs. Canada on Wednesday (12 p.m., FS2) will advance. Austin Barnes is expected to make his third start behind the plate for Mexico.

The final game on Wednesday is the United States having multiple paths for advancement. If they beat Colombia (7 p.m., FS1), they are through to the next round. But if Colombia wins, that would create a three-way tie at 2-2 between USA, Colombia, and the loser of Mexico-Canada.

Wednesday WBC schedule

All times PT

Quarterfinal

3 a.m.: Australia vs. Cuba (FS2)

Pool play

9 a.m.: Venezuela vs. Israel (FS2)
David Peralta

12 p.m.: Mexico vs. Canada (FS2)
Austin Barnes

4 p.m.: Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic (FS1)

7 p.m.: United States vs. Colombia (FS1)
Mookie Betts, Will Smith