Team USA suffered a massive upset at the hands of Italy on Tuesday night at the , putting their hopes of moving to the quarterfinal round in jeopardy.
Italys Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy defeated the U.S., 8-6, in the Americans final game in pool play.
Italian starter Michael Lorenzen allowed two hits in 4.2 scoreless innings. The U.S. got homers from Pete Crow-Armstrong twice and Gunnar Henderson, but their rally fell short.
had a chance to extend the game for the U.S. in the ninth inning, but struck out.
“Its the toughest thing,” he said. “You always like having your destiny in your own hands and we had it right in front of us and Italy came out swinging.”
The Americans were down 8-1 in the seventh inning before Crow-Armstrongs home run.
The U.S. appeared to be dealt a confusing situation, possibly thinking they had already clinched a spot in the next round. Manager Mark DeRosa seemed to think that when he said in a TV appearance they the team wanted to win the game “even though our tickets punched to the quarterfinals ⦔
DeRosa said he “misspoke” and Judge added that he didnt think players had already thought their spot was secured.
“It’s out of our control now,” he said. “We just need a little luck and well see what happens.”
Now, the U.S. will need to hope for an . If Mexico wins, then all three teams will move to 3-1 and 1-1 against each other and send it to a tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker is the number of runs allowed in games between the tied teams. The U.S. could advance even if Mexico wins if it scores at least five runs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digitals sports coverage on X and subscribe to.
