Italy delivered one of the World Baseball Classic’s biggest shocks Tuesday night, stunning Team USA 8-6 at Daikin Park in Houston after Aaron Judge struck out swinging to end a frantic ninth-inning rally. The visitors raced out to an 8-0 lead and then survived a furious push led by Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two home runs, leaving a rattled home crowd and a suddenly nervous Pool B outlook for the Americans. It is the kind of result that will echo through both the tournament bracket and the U.S. clubhouse, as reported by ESPN.
Italy built an early wall
Italy grabbed control early with a barrage of power, including home runs from Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone, and had eight runs on the board before Team USA could mount any real offense, according to ESPN. Veteran Michael Lorenzen worked into the middle innings and kept U.S. hitters off balance while Italy mixed long balls with opportunistic baserunning to build what felt like an insurmountable cushion. From there, the home crowd was essentially on comeback watch the rest of the night.
Pitching, errors and missed chances
Things actually started well for the Americans: rookie Nolan McLean struck out the side in the first inning. But in the second he gave up two homers and was done after just three innings, and a throwing error plus a wild pitch helped Italy extend its lead, the Associated Press reported. Between Italy’s steady pitching and a handful of defensive miscues by Team USA, the score tilted lopsided in a hurry and shoved the U.S. into scramble mode. Those early mistakes lingered even after the bats finally showed signs of life.
Late U.S. rally fell short
Pete Crow-Armstrong tried to turn the night into a classic comeback story with a two-homer performance: a three-run blast in the seventh inning and a solo shot in the ninth. Roman Anthony added a two-out RBI single in the eighth to tighten the score and crank up the tension, per ESPN. Bryce Harper came off the bench as a pinch hitter representing the tying run in the eighth but flied out, and Aaron Judge’s swinging strike against Greg Weissert finally slammed the door on the rally. The U.S. made it interesting, just not quite in time.
What this means for Pool B
The loss leaves Italy at 3-0 in Pool B and Team USA at 3-1, which means the Americans now have to wait on the Italy–Mexico matchup to find out who advances, according to The Associated Press. If Mexico beats Italy and all three teams finish 3-1, the WBC tiebreaker of runs allowed per defensive out would decide things, leaving the U.S. scoreboard-watching and at the mercy of the math. For now, at least, Houston’s big night belongs entirely to Italy.
