The surprising loss by the US to Italy in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night means that the US need help to advance to the quarter-finals.
The 8-6 defeat left the team with a 3-1 record at the end of their pool schedule. Mexico and Italy are to wrap up Pool B play this morning Taipei time where a win by the Italians would give the US second place and a spot in the next round.
If Mexico win then all three teams would move to 3-1 and 1-1 against each other and send it to a tiebreaker.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
The tiebreaker is the number of runs allowed in games between the tied teams. So, the US could also advance even if Mexico win if they score at least five runs.
Aaron Judge, who struck out in the ninth to end it on Tuesday night, is disappointed that the team failed to take care of business against Italy.
“It’s the toughest thing,” he said. “You always like having your destiny in your own hands, and we had it right in front of us, and Italy came out swinging.”
The Italians hit three home runs in the first four innings to build a five-run lead and were up 8-0 before the US got on the board.
After the game, US manager Mark DeRosa fielded questions about whether he thought his team had already secured a spot in the quarter-finals with Monday night’s win over Mexico because of his comments on a television appearance on Tuesday morning.
In that interview he said: “Ton of respect for Italy — it’s weird — we want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarter-finals, because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow. So, the way the schedule lines up this is an important game for us.”
In the interview room he said he “misspoke” in that segment, and in a later interview outside the clubhouse he reiterated that he did not think they had already clinched a spot.
“One hundred percent... I misspoke,” he said. “Bottom line.”
Judge said the players did not think that they had already secured a spot in the quarter-finals, and that he did not know about DeRosa’s television interview.
The team would probably gather at the hotel to watch the game between Mexico and Italy, he said.
“It’s out of our control now,” he said. “We just need a little luck and we’ll see what happens.”
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