HOUSTON — The USA players hung out in their posh team hotel Wednesday night watching the Mexico-Italy game, while manager Mark DeRosa and the staff had a watch party at pitching coach Andy Pettitte’s home with steaks on the grill.
The tension ended halfway through the game, once Italy scored five runs, and all of the stress was over.
They could exhale.
They were still alive in the World Baseball Classic.
The moment Italy took a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning over Mexico, it guaranteed USA would advance because of the tiebreaker rules, making no difference that Italy would win, 9-1. San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, who was with his family in the hotel restaurant, got up from his table and immediately high-fived Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who was with his family. The next they knew, the entire restaurant was fist-bumping.
“We were all excited,’’ said Webb, USA’s starting pitcher in Friday’s quarterfinal against Canada (8 p.m. ET, FOX) at Daikin Park. “It's tough when stuff is not in your control. I think that was the hardest part. But shout-out to Italy for getting it done.’’
So instead of packing their bags and scurrying out of town, here they were Thursday afternoon, back at Daikin Field relaxed, taking batting practice, but more determined than ever to take advantage of this new lease on life in this World Baseball Classic.
They were given a scare, received a stay of execution, and now fully plan to capitalize beginning in the single-elimination quarterfinals. If they win, they’ll fly to Miami on Saturday with a semifinal game Sunday against the winner of the Dominican Republic and Korea quarterfinal.
They learned their lesson after getting smacked in the mouth by Team Italy, who went undefeated in pool play.
“New lease on life for the boys, certainly,’’ USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “Put ourselves in a tough spot. Tip our hat to Vinnie Pasquantino and Italy, truly. Went into that game a little overly confident and got a huge wake-up call. We turned the page and got Canada.
“Bottom line, the guys are fired up to be in that room and get rolling.’’
There will be no late get-togethers, no brash comments, and no getting ahead of themselves talking about playing in the World Baseball Classic championship game.
Yet, they do want to make it perfectly clear that they are taking this seriously, with DeRosa and the USA players insisting everyone knew all along what was at stake against Italy. The loss forced them to rely on Italy either winning Wednesday, or scoring at least four runs, to advance to the quarterfinals instead of Mexico.
“I think there's a couple false narratives out there,’’ DeRosa said. “I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place. I mean, they [Italy] went in 2-0. We went in 2-0. And we knew they were playing Mexico the next day. We knew there was tiebreaker rules involved.
“So, I can understand the questions about lineup and pitching situations. We were up against a lot of guardrails with regards to teams, the deployment of certain relievers, how many pitches they can use, whether they can go back out, whether they can clean up innings. And you're just trying to piece it together in real time.’’
The only real mistake DeRosa made was saying they had “punched their ticket’’ to the quarterfinals Tuesday morning on MLB Network when they still had not clinched a spot. He knew when he arrived at the ballpark that he made a mistake on air but insists it had nothing to do with his lineup. He drew criticism playing Paul Goldschmidt at first instead of Bryce Harper, Gunnar Henderson at third instead of Alex Bregman or even Pete Crow-Armstrong instead of Byron Buxton. And the only reason Clayton Kershaw was warming up in the eighth inning was in case David Bednar reached his pitch count of 25 pitches.
“It was just an overly confident statement on 'Hot Stove,' period,’’ DeRosa said, “the end. And it's my fault. I felt good about where we were after Mexico.’’
And about that late night get-together in the clubhouse after defeating Mexico, with DeRosa offering that a few players were “dragging’’ the next day.
“Listen, us hanging out in a clubhouse is everything I ever dreamed of creating,’’ DeRosa said. “You've got to buy into this thing super quick and try and create a team. For those players to invite the coaches in and for us to spend time together, and enjoy a huge win that we hadn't had in 20 years [over Mexico] was something that was super special to me.
“We did not lose sight of the fact that we had to go out and play well against Italy. They played a hell of a game. They smacked us in the mouth early. They got up big. We went into that game prepared to win it.’’
The players backed up DeRosa, saying that while they might have been overconfident, everyone knew was at stake, and were startled to see the outcry.
“I don’t understand that,’’ USA captain Aaron Judge said. “We want to win every single game. Yeah, we got kicked in the mouth. That’s how you respond now. We got to go out there and take care of business. We’re going to treat it like every other game.
“We’re out there to win. We’re out there to beat some teams down.’’
USA slugger Kyle Schwarber also was exasperated by the narrative that USA treated the Italy game like a spring training exhibition, and that they didn’t care whether they won or lost, believing they already had a quarterfinal berth clinched.
“That was the furthest thing from the truth ...’’ he said. “I don’t like that perception. We have a baseball team full of great players, and we got beat. You tip your hat. But it wasn’t because we 'sold it,' or whatever you want to say. They beat us, fair and square. We put ourselves in that position and we’re moving on.
“We’re moving on, and now we’ve got to find a way to keep it going.’’
If Team USA wasn’t taking it seriously, Schwarber and Bryce Harper would have sent text messages to Italy starter Aaron Nola, imploring him to beat Mexico. They left him alone. They’re all competitors wanting the same gold medal. It was only after Nola came out of the game that Schwarber congratulated him for his five shutout-inning performance, but as a Phillies teammate, not as Team Italy pitcher.
“The reality is that it was out of our control, and you got to swallow the pill, but I’m happy that it ended up where we’re moving on,’’ Schwarber said. “Nobody wanted to go back home. It just wouldn’t have felt right.
“Now, we’re at the point where we can control our own fate.’’
While the DeRosa controversy died down with USA qualifying for the quarterfinals, a new one arose Thursday with several pitchers leaving the WBC and returning to their spring training camps. Yankees reliever Ryan Yarbrough, Royals starter Michael Wacha and Mets starter Clay Holmes left the team. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who was their emergency pitcher, will be removed from the roster after Friday’s game, DeRosa said. They will be replaced by Tigers reliever Will Vest, Blue Jays reliever Tyler Rogers and Yankees reliever Tim Hill. Minnesota Twins starter Joe Ryan, who is scheduled to pitch the potential championship game along with Mets starter Nolan McLean, will replace Kershaw.
“I completely understand that,’’ DeRosa said. “There's a lot of pressure from the parent clubs to get these guys ramped up for the start of the season. If [Boyd] is going to be the Opening Day starter for the Cubs, we had to guarantee him innings. The game’s going to dictate now. Pool play is a different animal. Trying to weave our way through it from a pitching standpoint, all bets are off now.’’
Webb, who won the first game against Brazil, says he also understands why so many pitchers have returned to camp. Yet, he never considered departing, and even after he pitches Friday, he’ll remain with the team in Miami.
“I completely understand where all those guys are coming from, especially guys that have come out of the bullpen that are starters during the season,’’ Webb said. So, it's difficult. For me it wasn't. I guess I was just kind of one of the lucky ones that got to kind of keep [the routine] it the same.’’
And even though he won’t pitch again after Friday, there’s no way Webb is about to depart back to Scottsdale, Arizona, and leave his USA teammates behind.
“I want to see it through,’’ Webb said. “No offense to the teams that I've played on before, I love all those guys, but this is probably the most fun I've had with a group of guys.
“We've got three games to go, and then hopefully winning a gold at the end.’’
It’s not as if USA needed any motivation, but their Italy loss does remind them that anything can happen on any given night, and with it now being a single-elimination tournament, one bad night can send your home.
“We all know that no one’s invincible,’’ Schwarber said. “There’s always a good time to have a little slap in the face. I think that brings guys more together at the end of the day.’’
So could the Italy loss be a blessing in disguise, a much-needed wake-up call?
“We'll see,’’ Judge said, “if we’re holding that gold medal.’’
Follow Bob Nightengale on Bluesky and X @Bnightengale.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Team USA has added motivation going into WBC quarterfinal vs. Canada
