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.
After Vinnie Pasquantino had the WBC’s first three-homer game to lead the Italians to victory, the Kansas City Royals player had a message for the Americans.
“You’re welcome, U.S.A.,” he said. “We were thinking of you guys over at your hotel. We were thinking of you guys. So I’m glad you could join us in the party.”
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. went 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 first round for the first time, on Friday night. Italy will play Puerto Rico in the other quarterfinal at Daikin Park on Saturday.
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.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Powerful, moving, and exhilarating” Read moreSongs For A New World
All are invited to attend this silent, unprogrammed meeting where we listen for the spirit o… Read moreSan Mateo Quakers
Join us for this fun community gathering. There will be a resource fair, music and a raffle.… Read moreBelmont Senior Showcase
Exclusive film screening in San Mateo Read moreA LITTLE FELLOW: THE LEGACY OF A.P.GIANNINI
CA Is Burning said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.