Team USA faces elimination at World Baseball Classic after manager’s ‘ticket punched’ gaffe
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said he misspoke when, during an interview before Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic game against Italy, he said the Americans had already booked their ticket to the semifinal.
DeRosa’s team could be eliminated depending on the result of Wednesday’s game between Italy and Mexico.
A video of DeRosa’s interview — which aired on MLB Network — was removed from MLB.com on Wednesday.
“It’s weird,” DeRosa said in the now-viral interview clip. “We want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.”
The Americans lost 8-6 to the Italians in a massive upset on Tuesday. DeRosa confirmed after the loss that he “misspoke” when he declared that his squad would be moving on.
Team USA now anxiously awaits the results of Wednesday’s game between Italy and Mexico.
Team USA — which features stars like New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes — would advance if Italy wins its final game of pool play. But if Mexico wins and scores fewer than five runs, the Americans would be eliminated.