Houston (AFP) – Unbeaten Italy advanced to the World Baseball Classic quarter-finals by routing Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday, allowing the fancied collection of United States stars into the last eight as well. A night after the Italians delivered a stunning upset of the Americans to leave them on the brink of elimination, they overwhelmed Mexico to win Pool B with a 4-0 round-robin mark.
Vinnie Pasquantino blasted three solo home runs — the WBC’s first three-homer effort — while Jon Berti added another, ending Mexico’s hopes and pushing the USA into the quarter-finals. “We’re in a good spot. That was unbelievable,” Pasquantino said. “I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. We weren’t supposed to win the pool; we thought we could, and we did. It’s pretty special.”
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The Italian captain taunted the Americans, whose team of top Major League Baseball talent had to sweat out the Mexico-Italy outcome. A Mexican victory with enough runs scored would have ousted the Americans on a tie-breaker. “You’re welcome USA,” Pasquantino said. “We were thinking of you guys over at your hotel. Glad you guys could join us in the party.”
Canada defeated Cuba 7-2 in Puerto Rico to eliminate their Caribbean rivals — never before ousted in WBC pool play — and capture the Pool A crown with the hosts also advancing. The Canadians will make their WBC quarter-finals debut against the United States on Friday in Houston while Italy will face Puerto Rico on Saturday. “Whatever happens next, we’re going to be ready for it,” said Pasquantino.
Italy seized the lead on Pasquantino’s solo homer in the second inning, and Berti made it 2-0 with a solo homer in the fourth. The Italians grabbed a 3-0 edge in the fifth when Jac Caglionone walked, stole second base, advanced to third on J.J. D’Orazio’s single, and scored on Dante Nori’s bunt single. D’Orazio and Nori later scored on a single by Jakob Marsee. “Once we scored four runs, it was like we had better win this thing,” Pasquantino said.
Pasquantino added another solo homer in the sixth, and Sam Antonacci scored from first on a fielding error in the seventh. Mexico averted a shutout when a bases-loaded ground out by Alek Thomas scored Joey Meneses. But Pasquantino, a third baseman for the MLB Kansas City Royals, smashed his third solo homer in the eighth. Zach Dezenzo singled and scored in the eighth on an Andrew Fischer double for a 9-1 Italy edge.
In Puerto Rico, Abraham Toro’s homer gave Canada a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Bo Naylor added a run-scoring double, and Otto Lopez followed with a two-run single in the sixth for a 5-1 Canada edge, and the Cubans never threatened from there. Japan and South Korea advanced from Pool C in Tokyo, while Venezuela and the Dominican Republic qualified from Pool D in Miami.
The Dominicans’ 7-5 victory over Venezuela to capture the Pool D title set up the last quarter-final pairings with South Korea to meet the Dominican Republic on Friday and Japan to face Venezuela on Saturday. Those games will be in Miami, where semi-final games are set for Sunday and Monday ahead of Tuesday’s championship clash.
© 2024 AFP
