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Team USA suffered a massive upset at the hands of Italy on Tuesday night at the World Baseball Classic, putting their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinal round in jeopardy.
Italy’s Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy defeated the United States, 8-6, in the Americans’ final game in pool play.
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U.S. pitcher Brad Keller (40) walks to the dugout in the middle of the sixth inning in a World Baseball Classic game against Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Italian starter Michael Lorenzen allowed two hits in 4.2 scoreless innings. The USA got homers from Pete Crow-Armstrong twice and Gunnar Henderson, but their rally fell short.
Aaron Judge had a chance to extend the game for the United States in the ninth inning, but struck out.
“That’s the hardest part,” he said. “You always like to have your destiny in your own hands and we had it right in front of us and Italy came out swinging.”
The Americans were down 8-1 in the seventh inning before Crow-Armstrong’s home run.
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Italy catcher Kyle Teel (3) celebrates as he runs the bases after a home run against the United States in the World Baseball Classic game Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The USA appeared to be dealing with a confusing situation, possibly believing they had already clinched a spot in the next round. Manager Mark DeRosa seemed to mean that when he said in a televised appearance that the team wanted to win the game “even though our ticket is punched to the quarterfinals…”
DeRosa said he “misspoke,” and Judge added that he didn’t think the players had already believed their spots were secured.
“It’s out of our control now,” he said. “We just need a bit of luck and we’ll see what happens.”
Now the US will have to hope for an Italian victory over Mexico. If Mexico wins, all three teams will move to 3-1 and 1-1 against each other, sending it to a tiebreaker.
U.S. center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) celebrates after hitting a home run against Italy in the ninth inning of a World Baseball Classic game Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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The tiebreaker is the number of runs allowed in games between tied teams. The U.S. can advance even if Mexico wins if it scores at least five runs.
