Team USA's World Baseball Classic stumble against Italy on Tuesday came with an awkward subplot: their manager had gone on TV that morning and talked as if they were already through. Mark DeRosa, who also works as an MLB Network host, told the channel's Hot Stove show that the team's "ticket's punched to the quarterfinals" and said he'd rest some hitters—which he did, sitting several stars as the Americans fell behind early and ultimately lost 8-6, the Athletic reports.
- "Ton of respect for Italy. It's weird, we want to win this game even though our ticket's punched to the quarterfinals because Mexico plays Italy actually," DeRosa said, per NBC News. "So, the way the schedule lines up, this is an important game for us."
After the upset, DeRosa said he knew a win was still required, blamed "misreading the calculations," and called his earlier comments a slip of the tongue. The video clip with those remarks appears to have been removed from MLB.com; an edited version on MLB Network's Facebook page omits them. The defeat left the US team with a 3-1 record at the end of its pool schedule, the AP reports. The team's fate now depends on Wednesday night's game between Italy and Mexico, NBC notes. If Italy wins, the US will advance to the quarterfinals as the Pool B runner-up. If Mexico wins, the US, Italy, and Mexico will all be at 3-1. Under tiebreaker rules, the US will advance if Mexico scores five or more runs, but will be eliminated if Mexico scores fewer than five.
"It's tough," DeRosa said of the situation. "It's super tough. I mean, guys in there are frustrated. It is what it is, though. We have to own it." Aaron Judge says the loss to Italy was disappointing. He says he wasn't aware of the DeRosa interview and the players did not think they had clinched advancement, the AP reports. "It's the toughest thing," he says. "You always like having your destiny in your own hands and we had it right in front of us and Italy came out swinging."
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