Italy pulled off a stunning 8-6 upset over the United States in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, leaving the star-studded hosts facing possible elimination from the tournament.<\/p>\n
Italy -\u2013 whose team is made up mostly of American players with Italian heritage — roared into an 8-0 lead after home runs from catcher Kyle Teel, shortstop Sam Antonacci and outfielder Jac Caglianone.<\/p>\n
The US rallied in the late innings to set up a nervy finale, but Italy held on to seal a famous win in Houston.<\/p>\n
The result means the USA, one of the favourites for the tournament with a team packed with Major League Baseball stars, are now sweating on the outcome of Italy’s final Pool B game against Mexico on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
A win for unbeaten Italy in that game would see them advance to the last eight along with the United States.<\/p>\n
If Mexico beat Italy, three teams will finish the group with a 3-1 record, meaning a complicated tiebreaker system based on runs allowed per defensive out among the tied teams will determine who advances.<\/p>\n
Italy’s starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen laid the foundation for success, muzzling the USA’s fearsome batting lineup through four scoreless innings.<\/p>\n
At the plate, Italy’s sluggers soon began attacking the US pitching, with Teel opening the scoring with a solo home run off Nolan McLean in the second inning.<\/p>\n
That was followed by Antonacci’s two-run homer to make it 3-0, and the Italians then tacked on again in the fourth with Caglianone’s two-run shot making it 5-0.<\/p>\n
Three more runs followed in the sixth inning to leave Italy sitting on an 8-0 advantage.<\/p>\n
The USA gradually began to fire up in the sixth, with Baltimore Orioles slugger Gunnar Henderson’s solo shot making it 8-1, before Pete Crow-Armstrong’s three-run shot cut the lead to 8-4.<\/p>\n
The US added another run in the eighth and Crow-Armstrong homered again in the bottom of the ninth to make it 8-6, before the US rally stalled, with captain Aaron Judge striking out to Greg Weissert to end the game.<\/p>\n
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