Italy pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Baseball Classic history by beating Team USA 8-6 Tuesday night.
Here’s why that’s important — and slightly embarrassing (since baseball is widely known as “America’s pastime”):
It puts the heavily favored U.S. in danger of elimination. Team USA no longer controls its fate, despite the team’s manager apparently thinking they did.
In an appearance on MLB Network before the game, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa misspoke, which he admitted after the game.
“We want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals,” he said.
One problem here though, folks.
Their ticket to the quarterfinals was, in fact, not punched.
The U.S. finished pool play 3-1, but whether the Americans advance any further depends entirely on the result of the Italy vs. Mexico game on Wednesday night.
Here are all the possible scenarios:
- If Italy beats Mexico, both Italy and USA advance
- If Mexico wins and scores 5+ runs, USA and Mexico advance
- If Mexico wins but scores 4 or fewer, Mexico and Italy advance and USA is eliminated
Here’s how fans reacted on social media
Has the U.S. ever won the WBC?
The WBC has been held every three years over the last 20 years.
Japan won the last one in 2023 and the United States won the one before that in 2017.
The victory marked Team USA’s first-ever WBC championship title.
Pitcher Marcus Stroman won tournament MVP after carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the final game against Puerto Rico, a game the U.S. won 8-0.