In a stunning reversal at the World Baseball Classic, Italy delivered a decisive blow to tournament favorites United States with an 8-6 victory Tuesday night at Houston’s Daikin Park. The Italian squad, powered by home runs from Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci, and Jac Caglianone, built a commanding 8-0 lead before withstanding a dramatic late-game rally from the Americans.
Italian starter Michael Lorenzen proved dominant on the mound, limiting the powerful U.S. lineup to just two hits across 4 2/3 scoreless innings. The offensive breakthrough came in the third inning when Teel’s homer to left field opened scoring, followed by Antonacci’s blast to right-center that extended the lead to 3-0. Caglianone’s two-run shot in the fourth inning pushed the advantage to 5-0, with Italy capitalizing on American defensive miscues to add three additional runs in a sloppy sixth inning.
The U.S. mounted a formidable comeback attempt in the late innings. Gunnar Henderson broke the shutout with a solo homer in the sixth, but the dramatic turnaround began with Pete Crow-Armstrong’s majestic three-run homer in the seventh. Crow-Armstrong struck again in the ninth with his second homer of the night—a two-run shot that narrowed the deficit to 8-6. With Bobby Witt Jr. reaching base and representing the tying run, Italian reliever Greg Weissert secured the historic victory by striking out Aaron Judge to end the game.
The result creates significant complications for Team USA’s tournament prospects. Having completed pool play, the Americans now require an Italian victory against Mexico on Wednesday to guarantee advancement to the quarterfinals. A Mexican victory would create a three-way tie at 3-1, with run differential determining which teams advance.
In other tournament action, defending champion Japan completed a perfect group stage with a 9-0 victory over the Czech Republic behind Munetaka Murakami’s grand slam. Israel defeated the Netherlands 6-2 in eliminated-team competition, while Canada kept its advancement hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over already-qualified Puerto Rico.