USA lost to Italy, 8-6, Tuesday night in World Baseball Classic action in a shocking result. This means Team USA finishes pool play with a 3-1 record. Usually, that’s good enough to advance. With Mexico sitting 2-1 and Italy now a surprising 3-0, though, there’s a chance that USA could lose a three-way tiebreaker, should Mexico defeat Italy on Wednesday. Yes, there is a chance this American baseball Dream Team featuring Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Paul Skenes, has already played its final game in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Team USA had not officially clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of WBC play prior to Tuesday’s game, and the Americans will need to wait until Wednesday night to learn their knockout stage fate. You wouldn’t have known that listening to their manager earlier on Tuesday, however.
USA manager Mark DeRosa joined MLB Network and noted that USA had “already punched” its “ticket to the quarterfinals” after beating Mexico on Monday night. DeRosa also talked about getting some guys a day off and having veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup against Italy.
DeRosa was asked about it after the game and said he “misspoke” in his TV appearance.
“Yeah, I misspoke,” DeRosa told reporters after the game. “I was on Hot Stove with a couple buddies today and completely misread the calculations. We knew that Mexico is gonna play Italy and running all the numbers, if we lost tonight, with runs allowed and runs scored and outs — I just misspoke.”
USA certainly had some questionable lineup decisions heading into the game against Italy, but it’s unlikely DeRosa made the lineup before having consulted with assistant coaches and figured out that what he said on the MLB Network show was false. Still, it was not a lineup that conveyed must-win urgency.
If USA is eliminated via the three-way tiebreaker — which would come to fruition with a low-scoring Mexico win over Italy on Wednesday — DeRosa will certainly face more questions moving forward as the manager.