By Ian Curtis.
Italy prepares to pass the torch in 7-4 win over Great Britain
Perhaps it was poetic that four of Italy’s seven runs were scored by Andrew Fischer and Miles Mastrobuoni.
On one hand, Fischer — the former Ole Miss Rebel and Tennessee Volunteer and current Milwaukee Brewers prospect — got things started off with a dash of youth.
After Great Britain got out to an early 2-0 lead, the Italians returned fire with back-to-back solo home runs in the third innings by Fischer and J.J. D’Orazio, both to right field. Both earned espresso shots from the Italian’s signature home run celebration machine.
“Super excited to be out there,” Fischer said. “ [I] didn’t get an at-bat in the first game. So, you can imagine, the buildup to playing in this has been pretty emotional. You’re representing your family, friends, the country.”
Then, Italy piled on three runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth as part of a run that began with Zach Dezenzo’s double and continued with an RBI single from Fischer and a fielding error that seemed to send Great Britain reliever Nick Wells into a tizzy.
As part of that run, Mastrobuoni scored Fischer on an RBI double that provided a bit of veteran wisdom to the box score.
Fischer says the leadership from Mastrobuoni and other veterans helps him and other younger players use the WBC as a launch pad.
“Very new to being a pro baseball player, I’m trying to put my name on the map,” Fischer said. “I think an opportunity like this gets you the chance to do that. Not even just with myself, like having an opportunity to play with these guys, I was saying these experiences are priceless. The plane ride over, the bus rides, being at the hotel, even how to dress.”
And it starts at 6 a.m. every day, when the Italians leave their hotel rooms wearing Armani suits.
“We’ve been wearing a suit every single day,” Fischer said. “You walk out of your room wearing a suit at 6:00 in the morning to show up at the park. And it’s business; we’re here to win; we’re here to compete. These experiences are priceless.”
For Mastrobuoni, who is playing his 11th year of professional baseball and his second WBC, the opportunity to play with players like Fischer, Sam Antonacci — who had a “Little League” home run in the win — at the WBC is important to the future of Team Italy.
“It’s passing the baton,” Mastrobuoni said. “It’s showing these young guys how to go about their business and everything like that. But you don’t overstep. These guys know what they’re doing. They’re here for a reason. And you’ve got to remember that. So if they’ve got questions, I’m always here for them. I’ll give them everything I’ve got to help them further their careers.”
Eaton, Chisholm get hot, but rest of Great Britain’s bats go cold
Just like its matchup against the USA yesterday, Great Britain had no problem getting an early start to things.
Nate Eaton continued his streak of success at the plate, following up last night’s first-pitch home run with a leadoff double that had the British fans in attendance at Daikin Park on the edge of their seats.
“He’s one of my favorites,” Great Britain manager Brad Marcelino said after being asked about Eaton’s performance. “He is the type of player that you love to coach. And the tools are all there, mentality, toughness, the grittiness. You can see it on display. I’m really excited that he’s part of the program. It’s going to be special to watch him in his career in the future for sure.”
And after quiet plate outings in Team GB’s first two showings in Houston, Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed that up with a single to immediately put the Brits in scoring position — which they were able to do thanks to a pair of wild pitches from Italian starter Dylan DeLucia.
The same combination of an Eaton double and Chisolm single led off the eighth inning, with Eaton scoring and giving Britons hopes of a rally with the score at 7-3. And, in another stretch of deja vu, Chisholm advanced to third and scored again on a pair of wild pitches.
But at 7-4, and with the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth inning, the momentum of a rally just ran out.
“I just felt like we ran out of the finish line there if we had a little bit longer,” Marcelino said. “I thought Spraker did a great job coming in, giving us some length. But the middle innings is where we had some mistakes as well.”
Even still, the momentum boost of a tight game is welcome for the Brits as they face Brazil with a spot in the next WBC on the line.
Mexico parties its way to a 16-0 run-rule drubbing of Brazil
With a rivalry match up against the USA on Monday night looming on the horizon, one might have expected at least some level of looking too far forward out of Mexico against Brazil.
But there was no lethargy to be found. The Mexicans got things started quickly with a 4-0 first inning kicked off by an RBI single by Jonathan Aranda and sustained three other RBI hits.
Jarren Duran was the first Mexican to go yard with a 387-foot homer to right center field that sent what might as well have been a home nation crowd at Daikin Park into a frenzy in the second inning.
And after Duran reached second again on a fourth-inning double, it was Alejandro Kirk who put all doubt to rest with a 416-foot three-run homer to extend the lead to 10-0 and put things in run-rule territory.
In short, it felt like a party. And boy do Mexican fans party, especially when Julian Ornelas sealed the deal with a two-run, run-rule, walk-off home run.
“I think it was one of the most beautiful moments in my career,” Ornelas said. “I am thankful to be here. I’ve said this before, and it’s something that I was going to cherish. And it was just that in the moment seeing our Mexican fans supporting us. As I was running through the bases, I was simply just staring at the stadium and looking for my mom. And thanks to God it was a beautiful moment.”
From sing-a-longs to the iconic “Mexican wave” to the sheer amount of joy each red-and-green-clad fan showed every time a Mexican crossed home plate, it was a reminder of what makes international baseball worth watching: cultural pride.
That pride will be on display tomorrow when Mexico faces the USA in front of a sold-out crowd.
“I think tomorrow is probably going to be similar to tonight, but like times two or times three,” Alek Thomas said. “The crowd, the Mexican crowd, always shows out. And this seems like the place that Mexico fans like to go crazy. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and it’s going to be lit.”
Brazil searches for silver linings in 16-0 defeat to Mexico
It wasn’t necessarily surprising to see Brazil — the team in Pool B that had to win its way in via the WBC Qualifiers — lose to a heavy-hitter like Mexico. What was perhaps surprising — and surely disappointing to the canary-clad specks of yellow and blue sprinkled throughout Daikin Park — was just how bad the loss was.
Against the USA and Italy earlier in the tournament, Brazil managed to keep things competitive through the middle innings until its bullpen ran out of steam late. But that was not the case against Mexico.
Brazil was outhit 16-3 and had every pitcher give up at least two runs.
“Looking back to these three games, we can see clearly that there are two groups of pitchers in our pitching team, ones that can throw in the strike zone and be aggressive and the other ones that are struggling to throw strikes,” Brazil manager Daniel Yuichi Matsumoto said. “So I think this tells us something about changes that we have to make in our training and practice, raising new talents and new pitchers to our country.”
There’s only one thing the Brazilians can do at this point, and that’s just prepare themselves for one of the biggest games in Brazilian baseball history tomorrow against Great Britain. Because the best possible thing that can happen for the growth of baseball in Brazil is locking themselves into the next edition of the WBC.