Surprise baller! The Italian team achieved the greatest victory in the history of its baseball, defeating the favorite United States 8-6 in Houston to take the lead in group B of the 2026 World Classic.
In a game corresponding to Tuesday’s day, the Italians combined six hits, half of them home runs, to remain undefeated and get closer to the quarterfinal stage.
With two outs, in the second inning Kyle Teell hit a home run, Jac Caglianone was hit by a pitch and Sam Antonacci hit the ball out of the park to make the score 3-0, the lead extended with a home run by Caglione in the fourth inning with a teammate on base.
While Italy’s starter, Michael Lorenzen, limited the North Americans’ attack to two hits in four and two-thirds innings, the Italians added three runs in the sixth inning, one that came in due to a pitcher’s error, another produced with a sacrifice fly by Dante Nori and another with a wild one.
The United States bet on returning from 0-8. In the sixth inning he scored a run with a home run by Gunnar Henderson and in the seventh he got closer to 8-4 with a bunch of three, combining a single by Paul Goldschmidt with a double by Brice Turand and a home run by Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Americans added a run in the eighth by combining hits by Kyle Schwarber, Will Smith and Roman Anthony, this one to make the score 8-5.
Crow-Armstrong hit his second home run of the game in the ninth inning to make the score 8-6 and excited the fans at Daikin Park, hoping to turn the score around.
Against reliever Greg Weissert, who came on with one out, Bobby Witt Jr. singled, but the reliever recovered and struck out Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge, one of the two greatest hitters in baseball today.
For Italy, Caglianone went 2-for-2 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored; For the United States, Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.
Lorenzen won and the North American starter, Nolan Mclean, lost, with a save by Greg Weissert.
Italy reached three wins without defeats and leads the group, followed by the United States (3-1), Mexico (2-1), Great Britain (1-3) and Brazil (1-4).
On Wednesday’s baseball game, Italy will face Mexico in the game that will decide the two qualifiers from the group to the best eight phase of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Israel says goodbye with triumph
Israel said goodbye to its participation in the VI edition of the World Baseball Classic with a 6-2 victory against the Netherlands in Group D being played in Miami.
Both teams said goodbye to the event this Tuesday but ensured their presence for the next World Classic by avoiding being in last place in Group D, which ended up in the hands of Nicaragua.
Israel finished with its head held high, with two wins and two losses, and improved its performance compared to the 2023 World Classic.
While in the Netherlands, directed by Andrew Jones, it was noted that there is a generational change. They finished 1-3 and were eliminated again in the group stage, but tonight they honored the experienced Shairon Martis, who took the scare mound in the second inning amid a standing ovation from his teammates in the LoanDepot Park dugout.
Against Israel, Martis pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.
Martis, 38, went down in the history of the Netherlands by pitching for his country in five of the six editions of the World Baseball Classic (2006, 2013, 2017, 2023 and 2026), in addition, he equaled the record for most appearances in this tournament that he now holds together with the Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera and the Cuban Alfredo Despaigne.
Although the Netherlands took the lead in the first inning, when it scored two runs, Israel overtook it with a six-run rally in the sixth inning, thanks to a two-run single with the bases loaded by Jake Gelof and a two-run double by Matt Mervis.
This Wednesday the Group D classic will be played between the undefeated Dominican Republic and Venezuela, which will decide the leadership and the rival of these teams in the quarterfinals.
