Vinnie Pasquantino leads Italy to victory over Mexico
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The surprising loss by the United States to Italy in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night means that the Americans need help to advance to the quarterfinals.
The United States is now relying on Italy to defeat Mexico on Wednesday to secure a guaranteed spot in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
Well, the United States is almost certainly moving on after all. Italy jumped up big on Mexico early on Wednesday, taking a 5-0 lead through five innings at Daikin Park in Houston. That, thanks to the tiebreaker scenario,
Italy put the United States on the brink of elimination from the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday. Italy and Vinnie Pasquantino saved the United States on Wednesday. The Americans no longer controlled their own destiny in Pool B following Tuesday's 8-6 loss to Italy,
Italy built a big lead and held on to stun the United States 8-6 in the WBC. After the game, U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said he "misspoke" in thinking the U.S. had already advanced.
1don MSN
Pasquantino has WBC's first 3-homer game to lead Italy over Mexico, advancing US to quarterfinals
Vinnie Pasquantino had the World Baseball Classic's first three-homer game, leading Italy over Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday night to win Pool B and advance the United States to the quarterfinals as group's second-place team.
The United States went from World Baseball Classic favorites to needing help to advance out of Pool B and into the quarterfinals.
If Mexico (2-1) beats Italy, those teams along with the United States will finish Pool B at 3-1. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, which would be 1-1 for all three teams. The second tiebreaker is the fewest runs per out in head-to-head games.