Aaron Nola held the fate of the United States in his hands. Unlike their manager, Nola rose to the occasion and successfully bailed out Team USA with a gem of a performance for Team Italy that secured the Americans a berth to the quarterfinal round. For real this time, Mark.
Meanwhile, our neighbors to the north had one of the best days in their baseball program’s history.
Canada 7 vs. Cuba 2
The Canadians took advantage of finally landing a favorable pool to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time. Cal Quantrill
led the way with five innings while allowing one run on two hits. A two-run double from Bo Naylor in the sixth sparked a rally that broke the game open for Canada, as they went on to score three and extend their then lead to 5-1. The retired James “Big Maple” Paxton added 2.2 scoreless innings in relief with six strikeouts on 49 pitches before being lifted for Eric Cerantola who got the final out on one pitch to eliminate Cuba for the first time before the knockout round.
Italy 9 vs. Mexico 1
Nola tossed five shutout innings while allowing just four hits and one walk while racking up five strikeouts to fuel those espresso chugging Italians to a perfect 4-0 record in pool play. Vinnie Pasquantino became the first player in WBC history to club three home runs in one game, leading the way for an offensive barrage that totaled nine runs on ten hits. Italy’s win officially clinched a spot for them and the United States in the quarterfinal round.
Dominican Republic 7 vs. Venezuela 5
Juan Soto’s two run homer in the first started the scoring early as the D.R. jumped out to a 4-1 lead through three innings. Ketel Marte and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added solo homers of their own before Venezuela cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom half of the third with RBI doubled from Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez. But a three-run homer from Fernando Tatis Jr. in the fourth re-established a commanding lead for the Dominicans that was able to withstand a late rally from Venezuela in the ninth. The lead was cut to 7-5 and Salvadore Perez came up as the winning run with one out, but Elvis Alvarado was able to induce a game winning double play.
