Team USA’s Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Italy In World Baseball Classic
It was not a good night at the office for Team USA, as it found itself in an early, eight-run hole before suffering a stunning 8-6 loss to Italy. Hardly anything went right for the Americans as its potent lineup struggled through much of the game, the defense was sloppy, and the pitching gave up three home runs to give Italy a commanding lead it never relinquished.
Pete Crow-Armstrong was a bright spot for the United States, doing his best to will his team to a historic comeback win with two homers (the second of which pulled the squad within two runs in the ninth inning), but the early deficit proved insurmountable.
The loss moves the U.S. to 3-1, and the team will have to hope that Italy defeats Mexico on Wednesday to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals as the Pool B runner-up. As it stands, this was a terrible outcome for the Red, White, and Blue, and its chances to move on are now legitimately in question.
Team USA Doesn’t Get Any Help From Its Pitching, Defense
Except for a few minor blips, the pitching for the U.S. had been stellar before meeting Italy. Paul Skenes pitched an absolute gem against Mexico on Monday, Tarik Skubal wasn’t too shabby in his start vs Great Britain, and the relief pitching has been unhittable at times.
Well, this game was different, to say the least. After an 11-pitch first inning, which included striking out Italy’s Jakob Marsee, Jon Berti, and Vinnie Pasquantino, starter Nolan McLean found himself in trouble in the next inning.
McLean induced two ground ball outs to start the second, but then Kyle Teel jumped on a first-pitch fastball and launched it to left field for a 1-0 lead in favor of the Italians. After hitting Jac Caglianone with a curveball to put him on first base, McLean gave up his second dinger of the inning, this time courtesy of Sam Antonacci.
The Mets pitcher was able to avoid giving up more runs in the third despite allowing runners on first and third with two outs. Catcher Will Smith didn’t make things any easier for his battery mate as he committed a throwing error, allowing Marsee to go from second to third after he had already stolen second base.
Ryan Yarbrough came on in relief for Team USA in the fourth, but he also proved not fit to stop Italy’s offense. Yarbrough inauspiciously led off the inning by walking Teel on six pitches. Then, in a 2-2 count, the Yankees product hung a sweeper to Caglianone, who launched the pitch to orbit 403 feet toward the right field seats. The deficit was now 5-0.
After a 1-2-3 fifth, Yarbrough, after inducing a flyout from Zach Dezenzo, gave up a double to Teel. This was the end of the line for Yarbrough, who was replaced by Brad Keller. He proceeded to walk Caglianone before three more runs scored via a throwing error by Keller, a sacrifice fly, and a wild pitch by Keller. The lead for Italy was now at 8-0.
Team USA’s Offense Comes Alive Too Late
Things finally started to pick up in the bottom half of the sixth inning for Team USA. After a Bobby Witt Jr. strikeout, Gunnar Henderson put his team on the board with a solo shot to center field of Daikin Park, his first of the WBC. Unfortunately, Aaron Judge (0-of-4) lined out, and Kyle Schwarber (1-of-4, R) struck out to end the threat.
With two outs in the seventh inning and two runners on, Crow-Armstrong made things interesting after clubbing a three-run home run to right field, chopping the deficit for the U.S. to 8-4. It was at this point that a comeback win appeared to be a latent possibility.
Following base hits from Schwarber and Smith, Roman Anthony came to bat with two outs in the eighth and added a line-drive single of his own to pull within three. Anthony has had a solid WBC, especially considering he is the youngest player on Team USA’s roster.
Bryce Harper then came off the bench to pinch hit for Paul Goldschmidt with an opportunity to give Team USA the lead, but Harper instead popped up to left center field for the last out of the inning.
The bottom of the ninth began with Brice Turang grounding out. Crow-Armstrong then brought the U.S. to two runs down with his second home run of the night. Witt Jr. subsequently got on base with a single, with Henderson and Judge due up.
However, the lights turned off for Team USA’s dreams of winning after both Henderson and Judge were fanned. Italy was able to avert a crisis and improve to 3-0 in the WBC.
