HOUSTON (AP) — A day later than its manager originally proclaimed, the United States punched its ticket to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
The Americans got the help they needed from Italy and could start to relax by the middle innings as Italy routed Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday night, giving the Azzurri the top spot in Group B and assuring the Americans advancement as the second-place team.
Italy beat the U.S. 8-6 a night earlier, turning the Americans into spectators as they hoped to avoid elimination. The Italians — fielding a roster stacked with Americans of Italian heritage — finished 4-0 while the U.S. 3-1.
Mexico (2-2), which lost to the U.S., was eliminated from the WBC and from qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The Americans will stay in Houston to meet Canada, which advanced past the first round for the first time, on Friday night. Diamondbacks pitcher Michael Soroka is in line to start for Canada after allowing one earned run on four hits across three innings pitched in a win on March 7.
Italy will play Puerto Rico in the other quarterfinal at Daikin Park on Saturday.
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The U.S., with an All-Star-filled roster, also beat Britain and Brazil in group play.
After the loss to Italy, U.S. manager Mark DeRosa fielded questions about whether he thought his team had already secured a spot in the quarterfinals with Monday night’s win over Mexico because of his comments on a television appearance the next morning.
In that interview, he said: “Ton of respect for Italy — it’s weird — we want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals because Mexico plays Italy actually tomorrow. So, the way the schedule lines up this is an important game for us.”
DeRosa said he “misspoke” in that interview and did not believe the team had already clinched a spot.
Now that the Americans are in the quarterfinals, they know they need to win to move on to Miami.
Full World Baseball Classic remaining schedule
All times listed are MST.
Friday, March 13:
Quarterfinal 1: Korea vs. Dominican Republic at 3:30 p.m. (FS2) Quarterfinal 2: United States vs. Canada at 5 p.m. (FOX)Saturday, March 14:
Quarterfinal 3: Puerto Rico vs. Italy at noon (FS1) Quarterfinal 4: Venezuela vs. Japan at 6 p.m. (FOX)Sunday, March 15:
Semifinal 1: Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 winner at 5 p.m. (FS1)Monday, March 16:
Semifinal 2: Quarterfinal 3 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner at 5 p.m. (FS1)Tuesday, March 17:
Final: Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner at 5 p.m. (FOX)Hence then, the article about us gets the help it needs from italy and advances to the world baseball classic quarterfinals was published today ( ) and is available on Arizona sports ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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