Italy stunned the United States 8-6 on Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic, leaving the defending champions' fate hanging in the balance. Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy built a big lead and held on for victory at Houston's Daikin Park.
The US have finished their pool play and now need Italy to beat Mexico on Wednesday to guarantee a quarter-final spot. If Mexico win, the three teams will be tied at 3-1, and the team that conceded the most runs will be eliminated. The US have allowed 17 runs, Italy 10 and Mexico seven, with the latter two still to face each other.
USA manager Mark DeRosa admitted he had misunderstood the situation before the game. “I misspoke,” he told reporters. “I was on Hot Stove with a couple buddies today and completely misread the calculations. We knew that Mexico is gonna play Italy and running all the numbers, if we lost tonight, with runs allowed and runs scored and outs – I just misspoke.”
Italy starter Michael Lorenzen allowed two hits in four and two-thirds scoreless innings. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice and drove in four runs for the US, and Gunnar Henderson added a solo shot, but the rally fell short when Greg Weissert struck out Aaron Judge with a runner on to end the game.
In Tokyo, defending champions Japan completed an unbeaten group stage with a 9-0 win over the Czech Republic, powered by a nine-run eighth inning capped by Munetaka Murakami's grand slam. Japan outscored opponents 39-9 and will face Venezuela or the Dominican Republic in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Miami.
