Kyle Till, Sam Antonacci and Jacques Caglianone hit home runs and Italy took a huge lead and beat the United States 8-6 in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night.
The U.S. has finished its pool play at Houston’s Grand Golden Park, needing Italy to beat Mexico on Wednesday night to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. If the Mexican team defeats the Italian team, the three teams will tie 3-1 and the winner will be determined through a tiebreaker, and the team with the most points will be eliminated.
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Italian starter Michael Lorenzen allowed two hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Americans off balance.
Pete Crowe-Armstrong hit two home runs and drove in four runs, and Gunnar Henderson had a single for the Americans, but Greg Weathert struck out Aaron Judge with the runner on base to end the game.
Crowe-Armstrong hit his second home run into the second tier of right field to cut the lead to 8-6 with one out in the ninth. Bobby Witt Jr. singled, Henderson struck out, and Judge started Italy’s celebration.
In the seventh inning, Crowe Armstrong hit a majestic three-run home run in right field, and the United States trailed 8-1 with two outs.
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Kyle Schwarber and Will Smith had back-to-back singles with two outs in the eighth, then Roman Anthony’s RBI single on a line drive to left field. But Ron Marinaccio ended the inning with a fly ball that retired pinch-hitter Bryce Harper.
Till gave Italy an early lead with two outs in the third inning when Till hit a home run to Crawford’s plate in left field. McClain then struck out Caglianone, and then Antonacci hit a home run out of the center-right bullpen to make it 3-0.
Caglianone hit a two-run shot off Ryan Yarbrough to extend the lead to 5-0 with no outs in the fourth.
Italy added another run on an error, a sacrifice fly and a third on a wild pitch by Brad Keller to extend the U.S. lead to 8-0 in the sixth.
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The Americans finally got on the board in the sixth inning on a home run by Henderson.
Japan’s World Baseball Classic group unbeaten Takashi Murakami defeated the Czech Republic 9-0 in a grand slam
Defending champion Japan defeated the Czech Republic 9-0 on Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome, scoring nine runs in the eighth inning on Munataka Murakami’s grand slam to complete the group stage of the World Baseball Classic undefeated.
Japan outscored its opponents 39-9 and advanced 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals against either Venezuela or the Dominican Republic in Miami on Saturday.
Japan takes a break Shohei Ohtanihe batted .556 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs and 4 walks.
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The Czech Republic, the 2025 European Championship bronze medalists, finished with an 0-4 record, a .167 batting average and a 39-5 score, ranking 19th among 20 teams, just ahead of Brazil (0.130).
Wakatsuki Kenya hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning off loser Michal Kovala, who was eliminated after Ukyo Shuto hit a three-run home run. Shugo Maki got a bases-loaded walk from two-way player Ryan Johnson, who also appeared at first base. Murakami hit a fastball 425 feet in the top of the batter’s box into the right-center field seats.
Czech starter Ondrej Satoria allowed six hits in 4 2/3 innings and threw 42 changeups on 67 pitches. His top speed is 79.9 mph.
Sartoria is famous in Japan. He struck out Ohtani in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
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“I’m sad,” Sartoria said before the game, knowing Ohtani was not in the starting lineup. “I think a lot of fans are sad, too. Maybe he’s resting for a long trip to Miami.”
The winner, Yumeto Kanemaru, struck out five in two perfect innings.
All Czech players have day jobs. Sartoria, who is retiring from the national team, works as an electrician, and the manager, Pavel Chadim – known as Dr. Chadim – is a neurologist.
Chardim was interviewed wearing the 2025 European Championship bronze medal.
“I got this medal because I wanted to show some people in the world that we are not baseball tourists,” Chardim said. “We play baseball as professionals. We don’t need excuses. We play as professionals on the field.”
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Jack Glover scores 3 points to help Israel beat Netherlands 6-2
Jake Gelof drove in three runs and Matt Mervis doubled to lead Israel (2-2) past the Netherlands (1-3) in a Group D matchup of eliminated teams.
Xander Bogaerts’ run-scoring grounder and Didi Gregorius’ sacrifice fly gave Holland the lead in Miami’s first, but Glover’s RBI double in the second closed the gap.
Mervis’ two-run double capped the five-run sixth against loser Kevin Kelly. RJ Schreck had a tying RBI single and Geloff had a two-run single to make it 4-2. Four runs in the inning were scored thanks to a single by Garrett Stubbs on a fielding error by first baseman Sharlon Schoop.
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Josh Mallitz got the win with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Ben Simon struck out three without a save in the ninth.
Drew Jones went 0-for-11 with four walks for Holland with runners in scoring position.
Dutch reliever Ryjeteri Merite allowed one hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his fifth appearance in the WBC, tying a record tied with Venezuela’s Miguel Cabrera and Cuba’s Alfredo Despaigne.
Canada beats Puerto Rico 3-2 and beats Cuba to advance
Rico Garcia walked Tyler O’Neill and Tyler Black in the third inning, forcing Canada to beat host Puerto Rico in San Juan and stay in contention to advance from Group A.
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Puerto Rico (3-1) has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. Canada and Cuba both entered the finals with 2-1 records in their final games on Wednesday, and a win for Canada would advance them to the first round for the first time.
In a game that started after a 69-minute rain delay, Nolan Arenado’s RBI single in the first inning and winning pitcher Jordan Balazovic gave Puerto Rico the lead, but Canada loaded the bases in the third inning against José De León and Garcia struggled to control the bases change.
Abraham Toro hit a single against Raymond Burgos in the fourth to make it 3-1, but Martín Maldonado added an RBI grounder in the second half against Logan Allen.
Angel Reyes retired Josh Naylor on a flyout in the bottom of the inning, leaving the bases stranded in the ninth. Brock Dykxhoorn had three straight shutouts in the first save.