“It starts with who we are. It starts with our culture.” On Team DR, and their 30-second trips around the bases — their purest expression of joy. …

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FINAL: Italy 9, Mexico 1 Team USA officially advances to the WBC quarterfinals and will face Canada on Friday. Italy, which carved through Pool B, will take on Puerto Rico on Saturday. Excellent baseball ahead in Houston before the semis and finals in Miami from March 15-17.

Vinnie Pasquantino has the first three-homer game in the 20-year history of the World Baseball Classic. Italy leads, 8-1, in the eighth inning and is six outs from sweeping Pool B and allowing Team USA to advance into the quarterfinals.

The bat flip!

Italy captain Vinnie Pasquantino now has two homers, and they lead 6-0. The Italians are on their way to finishing pool play 4-0, and if that holds, they would face Puerto Rico in the other quarterfinal in Houston on Saturday. USA-Canada would be Friday.

Aaron Nola is done, and he threw one of the best games of the WBC so far, shutting out Mexico through five innings. Italy leads, 5-0, and as long as the game does not go to the 13th inning, Team USA will survive and advance. If Italy wins, it's US-Canada in the quarterfinals.

The top five hitters in Italy's lineup went 0 for 22 -- and it still beat the United States. A monumental win for the Italians that leaves Team USA watching, waiting and hoping for an Italy win over Mexico or a high-scoring game that would let the U.S. advance on runs allowed.

FINAL: Italy 8, USA 6 One of the biggest upsets in WBC history as the Americans go down. Aaron Judge was up as the tying run with two outs in the ninth. Greg Weissert struck him out, and the Americans’ ability to advance now depends on the Italy-Mexico game Wednesday night.

Roman Anthony with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-5 with two outs and two on in the eighth inning. Bryce Harper is pinch hitting and represents the tying run. Italy manager Francisco Cervelli is calling on Ron Marinaccio to face Harper.

Clayton Kershaw is loosening in the Team USA bullpen.

Some life for Team USA: Pete Crow-Armstrong with a three-run homer in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 8-4. The lineup is turning over, too, with Bobby Witt Jr. up now with two outs and Gunnar Henderson, Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber set to follow.

Some life for Team USA: Pete Crow-Armstrong with a three-run homer in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 8-4 in the seventh. The lineup is turning over, too, with Bobby Witt Jr. up now with two outs and Gunnar Henderson, Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber set to follow.

Italy is mauling Team USA. It's 8-0 in the top of the sixth, and because of tiebreaker rules that factor in runs allowed, the Americans have put themselves in a position where if Mexico beats Italy tomorrow, the U.S. could find itself out of the WBC before the knockout round.

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel is coming out of the game and limping off the field after hitting a double down the line for team Italy. Looks like he pulled something between first and second. Brutal. Teel's had a brilliant game for Italy, homering as they lead Team USA, 5-0.

It is the second inning and Italy is up 3-0 on Team USA after home runs from Kyle Teel and Sam Antonacci. Still early. Still plenty of ball to be played. But this Italy lineup is very strong top to bottom, and this is the most the Americans have trailed by so far in the WBC.

Big news out of Reds camp: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48163065/reports-reds-ace-hunter-greene-expected-july

FINAL: USA 5, Mexico 3 Team USA stays perfect in the WBC, scoring on Aaron Judge and Roman Anthony homers. Paul Skenes threw four brilliant innings, Bobby Witt Jr. was a menace offensively and defensively, and the U.S. can clinch a quarterfinal spot with a win Tuesday vs. Italy.

Roman Anthony is still just 21. He is going to have a monster season for the Red Sox. And he just hit the second home run of the inning for Team USA, a three-run tank that chased Jesús Cruz, staked the Americans a 5-0 lead and reminded everyone how deep and good this lineup is.

It's not often you see Aaron Judge, halfway down the first-base line on a home run trot, turn toward the dugout and yell at his teammates to hype them up. He is incredibly invested in the WBC -- and now Team USA leads Mexico, 2-0, after he took Jesús Cruz out opposite field.

Jesús Luzardo’s five-year extension is for $135 million, sources tell ESPN. The deal, negotiated by Roger Tomas and Brodie Van Wagenen of Roc Nation, puts Luzardo among the highest-paid left-handed pitchers in baseball and solidifies the Phillies’ rotation going forward.

BREAKING: Left-hander Jesús Luzardo and the Philadelphia Phillies are in agreement on a five-year contract extension, sources tell ESPN. Luzardo, 28, was set to become a free agent after this season. The new deal will begin in 2027 and locks up one of baseball’s best young arms.

Tarik Skubal will leave Team USA following tonight’s game and return to camp with the Detroit Tigers, manager Mark DeRosa said.

The baseball renaissance is real.

Advancing commitment to journalism, ESPN hires 6 standout former Washington Post writers Hirings highlight continued focus on high-impact journalism & storytelling More:

This Dominican team is terrifying.

RHP Zack Littell and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a contact, sources tell me and @JeffPassan. Littell threw 186.2 innings last season with a 3.81 ERA for the Rays and Reds.

NEWS: John Carpino, Arte Moreno’s right-hand man, has informed the Angels that he will retire as the team’s president, ending a 23-year run with the organization, according to sources. Molly Jolly, a longtime exec on the business side, will replace him April 6. More to come.

Just your casual 453-foot homer leaving the bat at 116.

Who are the Top 100 players in MLB for the 2026 season? From Shohei Ohtani at the top to Nolan McLean at No. 100, here is ESPN's annual MLB Rank, where we project the stars of this year: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48053802/mlb-rank-2026-top-100-baseball-players-ohtani-judge-witt-skubal-soto

This is now official, with MLB announcing that Jurickson Profar tested positive for exogenous testosterone. His 162-game suspension begins Friday. Profar can still appeal it. The last time a PED suspension was overturned via grievance was more than a decade ago.

An absolutely wild story by Don and Alexa -- and relevant to baseball as it approaches its CBA expiration. When you hear players preaching about solidarity, it's because they know leagues prey on any weakness among the membership. This is an object lesson in ill-timed division.

We are minutes from first pitch of Team USA’s first World Baseball Classic exhibition. Paul Skenes is starting. The lineup is littered with stars: Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and many more. Could be the start of something special. And it’s on ESPN.

🤷🏻‍♂️

Tomorrow’s progrum is pretty absurd.. Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Paul Skenes and Clayton Kershaw will all stop by. World Baseball Classic is on deck and America is trying to regain world dominance. This State of Arizona is absolutely wonderful.. What a trip AHT here

Get used to this. Konnor Griffin is a superstar.

BREAKING: Nine-time All-Star Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a one-year, $27 million contract extension that includes a club option for $30 million in 2028, sources tell ESPN. Sale, 36, was set to hit free agency after this season but will remain in Atlanta.

Less than a week to go until the application for the Rich Passan Sports Writing Scholarship closes. We're looking for the best college sports reporters in the country and can't wait to give out the inaugural award along with the National Press Club.

Pat Murphy's new deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, which adds two years onto his contract and includes a club option for 2029, guarantees $8.95 million in new money and makes him one of the highest-paid managers in MLB, sources tell ESPN. First on the agreement: @Ken_Rosenthal.

Bruce Meyer's election by the 72 players on the union executive board is in an interim capacity, sources said. Meyer will remain in charge of collective-bargaining negotiations for the union as the Dec. 1 expiration of the CBA approaches.

BREAKING: Bruce Meyer has been unanimously elected as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources tell ESPN. Meyer, who was previously the No. 2 at the union, becomes the sixth executive director in the union’s history.

Catcher Mitch Garver and the Seattle Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal, sources tell ESPN. Garver, 35, spent the last two seasons with the Mariners and will compete for the backup catcher job to AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh.

The 4:30 p.m. call by MLBPA leadership ended without it voting on an interim executive director to replace Tony Clark, sources tell ESPN. The union is expected to hold a vote as soon as tomorrow, however, and the hope, sources said, is to have someone in place by then.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark resigned after an internal investigation revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who had been hired by the union in 2023, sources tell me and @DVNJr.

The MLBPA was supposed to hold its first meeting with players this spring today at Cleveland's camp. That meeting was abruptly canceled today and leaves the union without its top leader in a bargaining year. @EvanDrellich, @Ken_Rosenthal and @ByMcCullough were first on the news.

Tony Clark plans to resign as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources tell @DVNJr and me. Clark’s resignation comes in the wake of the Eastern District of New York’s investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the union.

The Padres have signed AJ Preller, their president of baseball operations, to a long-awaited extension.

Source: SP Germán Márquez and the Padres are in agreement on a 1-year deal. Márquez, 30, looks to bounce back from a rough first year back from Tommy John surgery and will do it in a far more favorable environment. Not long ago, he was one of game’s most durable starters.

Source: The D-backs have agreed on a one-year deal to bring back SP Zac Gallen, pending physical. First: @SteveGilbertMLB and @nickpiecoro.