WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL B - ITALY VS USA

March 10, 2026

Mark DeRosa

Daikin Park

Team USA

Postgame Press Conference

Italy - 8, USA - 6

Q. The pretense to come back to this WBC was the unfinished business. With the looming reality or possibility that the U.S. is probably out of the pool play after tomorrow's game, would there be a third stint for DeRosa, for you at the WBC with Team USA?

MARK DEROSA: I'm not concerned about that right now. Just tough game. Great game by Italy. Jumped on us quick couple of big homers to kind of stifle the crowd a little bit. We had the right guys at the plate at the right time. Just weren't able to get it done.

Q. On a television interview today, you seemed to indicate that you thought y'all had already advanced to the quarterfinals. Is that true?

MARK DEROSA: Yeah, I misspoke. I was on "Hot Stove" with a couple of buddies today and completely misread the calculations. We knew that Mexico was going to play Italy and then running all the numbers if we lost tonight with the runs allowed and runs scored and outs. I just misspoke.

Q. Last night was an emotional intense game. The guys were gathered for a long time afterward. Is there a possibility in your mind that there was a little bit of a feeling of relief and maybe a let-down tonight?

MARK DEROSA: I don't think so. I've got to give credit to Italy. I thought Nolan came out, punched out the side in the first inning, thought he was rolling. They jumped on a few pitches, grabbed a 3-0 lead.

Trying to kind of get Ryan Yarbrough through two to kind of save our pen. We had four guys available in the pen, plus Kershaw late. Just tried to reset it.

We could have done it another way. We could have went right to the pen and then saved Ryan Yarbrough on the back end, but I felt it was a good pocket for him with the bottom of the order and the lefties coming up. And he's here for a reason.

No, I'll credit Italy more than say we were flat.

Q. What made Lorenzen tough tonight?

MARK DEROSA: Listen, he's pitched against the guys. He's got good scouting reports on these guys. Bottom line, we didn't get it going early. I mean, credit to him. He was making pitches. And, yeah, they jumped on us, got a 3-0 lead.

And I thought we hung in there. It was a little too late. We got the right guys to the plate at the right times, but we weren't able to get that big swing.

Q. Was there any solace there toward the end where Bednar kept the bases loaded there, and then you kept them at 8 knowing that if they scored a couple more runs here, we're going to lose on the tiebreaker?

MARK DEROSA: That's the rub. Do you go for, like, right there after Nolan comes out or do you let him go out for another hitter or two to kind of run his pitch count up and then go to Keller, and run the bullpen out and then have Yarbrough on the back end to prevent runs?

I just thought it was a good lane for him. I felt like our offense was going to explode at some point. Yeah, I don't know if I find solace in it.

Q. How difficult is it knowing that your fate is not in your hands?

MARK DEROSA: It's tough. It's super tough. Guys in there are frustrated. It is what it is, though. I mean, we've got to own it, right?

Went out there today. Like I said, we had the right guys at the plate at the right time. Just couldn't push it across at the end.

I've got to credit Italy, they tacked on runs. It was 3-0, and Caglianone goes deep. PCA kept us in the game. Two big swings of the bat. Bullpen came in, did their job on the back end. Bednar was great. Mason Miller was explosive. So yeah, it's tough.

Q. The top five hitters in their lineup went 0-for-22 tonight. How much more frustrating is it when you do so well against the top of the lineup and get beaten by the bottom?

MARK DEROSA: Yeah, it was that pocket of 6, 7, 8 that did all the damage. And baseball's a tough game, bottom line. You try and run the match-ups and you try to get guys proper lanes, you gotta tip your hat to them when they're swinging the balls well.

I mean, kind of ambushed a few. Kyle Teel shoots one into the Crawford boxes. Shortstop's able to pop one to right-center. Caglianone tacks on. Just three swings of the bat. So, I mean, that's kind of the name of the game in modern baseball.

Q. We've all heard so many times, anything can happen in baseball. Would you say this is an example of that?

MARK DEROSA: I don't want to discredit -- they've got a good team. I mean, bottom line, they're running big leaguers up there. Michael Lorenzen has had success in the big leagues against guys.

So, yeah, frustrated, but I don't want to discredit what Italy did tonight.