Daikin Park (Houston) — In the fourth inning of Italy’s 8-6 stunner over Team USA, Jac Caglianone hit the Azzurri’s third home run of the game. Returning to the dugout, he put on the Armani jacket waiting for him, downed a shot of espresso and received the due baci greeting from Vinnie Pasquantino, who placed a kiss on each of his Kansas City Royals teammate’s cheeks. Italy poured it on early and held on late for the biggest baseball win in its country’s history, putting the best USA roster ever assembled in danger of possibly not advancing out of its World Baseball Classic pool. “It means everything for me tonight,” said Italy manager Francisco Cervelli. “This is one of the best days of my life.” Here are my takeaways:1. Behind Lorenzen’s Gem, Italy Gets Its Biggest Baseball Win EverHe mixed speeds and quadrants. He threw at least seven different kinds of pitches and got swings and misses on six of them. And for 4.2 innings, departing only after his pitch count ran above the allotted 65-pitch limit, Italy starter Michael Lorenzen blanked a lineup teeming with All-Stars and left them — and the 38,653 fans in attendance at Daikin Park — stunned and stupefied. Italy vs. United States Highlights World Baseball Classic on FOX Dating back to USA’s five-run outburst in the third inning Monday night against Mexico, the USA offense went scoreless for its next 10 innings until Gunnar Henderson’s solo home run in the sixth inning against Italy ended the drought. A late-inning rally wasn’t enough to erase Italy’s early barrage. Team Italy has made it to the quarterfinals twice in the WBC, including in the last tournament, but this victory against the USA is unlike anything before in the country’s baseball history and one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history. 2. Long Ball Bites USA’s McLean (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) USA’s first three starting pitchers of the tournament — Logan Webb, Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes — have combined for six All-Star appearances and three Cy Young Awards over the last two years alone. The fourth member of the stacked rotation had only eight MLB starts to his name, but it was a testament to the preternatural skills of Mets top pitching prospect Nolan McLean that he was included on the roster.In the first inning Tuesday night, he demonstrated why, striking out the side with a fastball that sat in the high-90s, a masterful sweeper and a devastating curveball. But…
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2026-03-11 06:15:40
