Red Sox Continue WBC Dominance in Italy's Shocking Upset of Team USA

Eventually, a team wearing a country's flag will take home the championship trophy from this World Baseball Classic. But somehow, the Boston Red Sox have won the pool play round.

Everywhere you look, Red Sox players are dominating their opponents. Japan's Masataka Yoshida and Mexico's Jarren Duran have been two of the hottest hitters in the tournament. The Dominican Republic's Brayan Bello pitched lights-out on Monday.

And on Tuesday, when Team Italy upset Team USA 8-6 in the biggest shocker of the tournament so far, Boston's fingerprints were still all over the final outcome.

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Greg Weissert joins Red Sox to put stamp on WBC

Greg Weissert, playing for Team Italy despite hailing from Bay Shore, N.Y., came on for the final two outs of the Italians' victory. After allowing a single to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., he slammed the door by striking out third baseman Gunnar Henderson and right fielder Aaron Judge.

Red Sox fans rooting for Team USA couldn't have been more conflicted in that moment -- a pitcher from their favorite team punched out arguably the two best hitters in the American League East, but in doing so, may have knocked his native country out of the tournament. Welcome to the WBC.

Even in the loss, USA outfielder Roman Anthony continued to make Red Sox fans proud on the global stage. His RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning kept a two-out rally moving, cutting the deficit to 8-5 at the time and bringing the tying run to the plate. Bryce Harper then popped out to left field to end the frame.

Though he's no longer a member of the Red Sox organization, Italy catcher Kyle Teel deserves mentioning as well for starting the scoring with a home run. Teel was the Red Sox's first-round pick in 2023 and the headliner in the December 2024 trade that brought ace Garrett Crochet to Boston.

These games don't count in the standings for the Red Sox, and the team would rather return all its players healthy to camp than see them succeed, then get injured (as Teel did later in Tuesday's game). But it's certainly a good omen for the upcoming season to see so many Boston players excelling.