Mark DeRosa Might’ve Boned This Big-Time

The crack of the bat. The smell of the grass. Hasty, scrawled attempts to understand and calculate a run-quotient formula. The romance of baseball is rarely felt as keenly as when it requires math. But those are the Wednesday night plans for Team USA, which after losing to Italy in a massive upset will be counting on help to decide whether it advances to the World Baseball Classic's elimination rounds, or whether it goes home in shock and disgrace. More to the point, because recrimination is America's true pastime: Did manager Mark DeRosa think Team USA had already qualified? And did he construct his lineup accordingly, benching some of the U.S.'s best hitters in a game he didn't realize he needed to win? It is extremely not clear. First, the baseball. The Espresso Boys knocked around Nolan McLean and Ryan Yarbrough to take an 8-0 lead by the sixth inning on the back of home runs from Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci, and Jac Caglianone. Michael Lorenzen pitched four and two-thirds innings of two-hit ball. Team USA clawed back six runs and sent Aaron Judge to the plate as the tying run, but closer Greg Weissert got him swinging.