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HOUSTON (AP) — The United States is heading to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic after a “different level of focus” helped this All-Star-studded team rebound from a shocking loss.
The U.S. beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night for a spot in the semifinals Sunday against the Dominican Republic. The big win came after an 8-6 loss to Italy in pool play left them needing help to advance to Friday’s game.
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“Guys really locked in,” Yankees star Aaron Judge said. “We saw a different level of focus at our workout the other day and then even pregame today. It felt like the boys were locked and ready to go.”
The loss to Italy elicited criticism of the team and particularly manager Mark DeRosa after he prematurely said on a television interview the morning of the loss to Italy that: “Our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.”
Judge said he knows a lot of people had negative things to say about them after the Italy game, but they didn’t pay it any mind.
“There’s a lot of noise that’s been going on with that,” he said. “And I think it just speaks volumes to the players in this room, the manager we’ve got, everybody, that no matter what’s being said about us, what’s going on, we still got a job to do on the field.”
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First baseman Bryce Harper echoed Judge’s sentiments that they didn’t worry about what outsiders were saying about the team.
“People are going to have their opinion about us,” he said. “I don’t think any of them are going to be sitting at our dinner table or our Thanksgiving dinner, so it doesn’t really matter what anybody says, that’s always been my call on that kind of stuff.”
The Americans did eventually punch their ticket to the quarterfinals when Italy beat Mexico to win Pool B and give the U.S. second place.
Starter Logan Webb, who threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings Friday night, said the team’s path to the semifinals was not ideal but he was proud that the guys got the job done.
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“It kind of feels like a second chance and… I felt like it was a newfound energy today,” he said.
Third baseman Alex Bregman appreciated…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/refocused-us-rebounds-italy-shocker-053505056.html
Author : KRISTIE RIEKEN
Publish date : 2026-03-14 05:35:00
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