Italy thumps Mexico as U.S. survives to reach WBC quarters

Vinnie Pasquantino hit a World Baseball Classic-record three home runs and Aaron Nola tossed five shutout innings as Italy continued its remarkable run with a 9-1 win over Mexico to send the Azzurri and Team USA to the quarterfinals.

Italy (4-0) won Pool B and will play Pool A runner-up Puerto Rico in its quarterfinal Saturday. The Americans, who nearly got knocked out of the tournament on tiebreakers after Tuesday's shocking loss to Italy, will take on longtime rival and Pool A winner Canada on Friday in Houston.

The other quarterfinal matchups will see Venezuela take on defending champion Japan, and the Dominican Republic face Korea at Miami's LoanDepot Park. The higher-seeded nation will be the designated "home" team in each quarterfinal and get the last at-bat.

Faced with a win-and-in scenario Wednesday, Italy took control early and didn't let up. Pasquantino hit his first of three round-trippers to lead off the second, sneaking the ball over Jarren Duran's glove in right field. He also homered in the sixth and eighth innings.

Jon Berti added a solo shot in the fourth to make it 2-0. Italy then broke it open with a three-run fifth inning that knocked Mexican starter Javier Assad out of the game.

The Italians nearly threw the whole tournament into chaos by upsetting the U.S. on Wednesday. Had Mexico beaten Italy by four runs or less, the star-studded Team USA would have been eliminated based on tiebreakers. Instead, manager Mark DeRosa - who acknowledged that he misunderstood his team's situation heading into the Italy game - will now have a chance at redemption, as well as a world championship.

Mexico, meanwhile, entered the tournament hoping to build on 2023's run to the semifinals. Instead, the team will head home after pool play for the third time, falling short of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics (the WBC is serving as an Olympic qualifier for teams from the Americas).

The Mexicans put runners on base in each of the first four innings Wednesday but came up empty every time. They scored their lone run on a bases-loaded RBI groundout by Alek Thomas in the bottom of the seventh that marked Mexico's last real threat.