Thank You, Italy. Now USA Has to Actually Earn It.
America's World Baseball Classic campaign nearly ended in Houston on Tuesday night, and not in the dramatic, heroic way. It nearly ended because the United States assembled a roster full of All-Stars and still lost 8-6 to Italy — a team whose active MLB roster is roughly the length of a pizza order. [1] Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two home runs in the sixth inning to make it interesting. Briefly. Then Italy shut the door. The Americans who built a 3-0 pool record and outscored their first three opponents by 20 runs suddenly had to sit around Wednesday and watch Italy play Mexico to find out if their tournament was over. [1] Italy won 9-1. Vinnie Pasquantino hit three home runs — the first three-homer game in WBC history — and Team USA could finally exhale. [3] They didn't earn their spot in the quarterfinals, at least not Wednesday. They waited for it. That matters. Not because this tournament is over, but because it tells you something about who this team actually is when things get difficult.
What Went Wrong Against Italy
To be fair to Team USA, losing to Italy in the WBC isn't the same humiliation it might sound like. The Italian roster has serious MLB talent — and at this level of international competition, a single bad pitching matchup or a cold lineup can torch any team. That's baseball. [1] But the manner of the loss stings. The Americans had Italy on the ropes. Crow-Armstrong dragged them back into the game almost single-handedly. Then the offense went quiet when it mattered most, and the bullpen couldn't hold it. [1] Paul Skenes was excellent in the Mexico win — four scoreless innings, the kind of performance that makes you genuinely excited about what he might do in the knockout rounds if the U.S. gets there. But the pitching depth questions haven't gone away. Who goes Friday against Canada? How are they managing innings on a compressed knockout schedule? [2] These are the questions a team with a 3-0 pool record shouldn't be asking with the quarterfinals three days away. Team USA is asking them.

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