We got plenty of drama over the past two days of the World Baseball Classic -- and so much more than Team USA had bargained for, right? -- that didn’t involve Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the two headliners of the whole thing.

After a thrilling round of pool play, the World Baseball Classic is about to level up. Eight teams -- two from each pool -- are still alive in their pursuit of a WBC title as the event takes on a tournament-style, single-elimination format. The quarterfinals begin with a two-game slate

After a nerve-racking 24 hours, Team USA can exhale. The U.S. officially punched its ticket to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic with Italy’s 9-1 win over Mexico on Wednesday at Daikin Park in Houston. With a 3-1 record, Team USA finished second in Pool B and will

The way Pete Crow-Armstrong swung the bat in Tuesday's World Baseball Classic game against Italy likely has Cubs fans even more ready to start the season.

HOUSTON – They came here singing canzones. Not Dominic Canzone (though he was there) but Italian “canzones.” As in, songs.

HOUSTON -- Twenty years ago, Ken Griffey Jr. was playing for the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Now, he's capturing Team USA's biggest moments of the 2026 Classic -- behind the camera. Griffey has been in Houston, where Team USA is playing, as a credentialed photographer for

PEORIA, Ariz. -- If there was any drama brewing between Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena at the World Baseball Classic, last year's AL MVP runner-up took steps to defuse it on Tuesday afternoon. "I hate that this is a thing,” Raleigh said via FaceTime with three Mariners beat reporters. “I

A four-time Olympic gold medalist, Kevin Durant knows a thing or two about bringing home a title for Team USA. Monday night, the NBA superstar liked what he saw on the diamond as the Americans continued their title push at the World Baseball Classic. Durant rocked an autographed Aaron Judge

HOUSTON -- Paul Skenes has dominated on the mound in an Air Force uniform. In an LSU uniform. In a Bradenton Marauders and Altoona Curve and Indianapolis Indians uniform. And of course in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. But the one he's wearing right now is different.

HOUSTON -- The Captain came to play in Team USA's biggest game of the World Baseball Classic. Aaron Judge had a highlight-reel outfield assist and crushed a home run to open the scoring all within the same inning of the USA-Mexico showdown on Monday night at Daikin Park. "It's playoff

HOUSTON -- Bobby Witt Jr. Dawg. The Team USA shortstop had a Gold Glove performance on defense in the World Baseball Classic on Monday, with a pair of show-stopping plays in the 5-3 win over rival Mexico. "They just kind of happen," Witt told FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal on the

HOUSTON -- The "U-S-A!" chants were booming. The Mexico fans were deafening. And in the end, the U.S. was the better team in the most hyped game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. In an electric atmosphere at Daikin Park on Monday night, Team USA defeated Mexico, 5-3, in a

Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran will share plenty of time in the Red Sox outfield this season. For now, they’re competing against each other for World Baseball Classic glory. In a key moment early in the United States-Mexico game on Monday, Mexico’s Duran committed a little Sox-on-Sox crime against the

HOUSTON -- Tarik Skubal will not make any more starts for Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic after all. The ace left-hander will return to Tigers Spring Training in Lakeland, Fla., after the United States' game against Mexico on Monday night at Daikin Park. U.S. manager Mark DeRosa,

HOUSTON -- Tarik Skubal is leaving the door open to pitching another game for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. That wasn't the plan. The plan was supposed to be set in stone: Skubal would make one start against Great Britain in pool play, and then return to the

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Hours after Tarik Skubal left open the possibility of making another start for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said they’ll sleep on it before making a decision. “I don't think anything's been determined,” Hinch said Sunday morning before the Tigers faced

HOUSTON -- If Aaron Judge is the new Captain America, Kyle Schwarber might as well be the Mighty Thor. With lightning flashing in the sky outside Daikin Park on Saturday night, Schwarber hammered a thunderous tiebreaking home run against Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic -- the biggest swing

HOUSTON – An All-Star lineup of Major League sluggers and a deep, sturdy pitching rotation gave Team USA sky-high expectations entering the World Baseball Classic. They delivered in their first game, though the process wasn’t as easy as some might have expected. Team USA beat Team Brazil, 15-5, in a

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Following the Americans’ first win in the World Baseball Classic in 2017, there was increased interest among big league stars to represent the States on this stage in '23. And after a close defeat at the hands of Japan in the '23 final, the enthusiasm to participate ramped up all

HOUSTON – Even on a team loaded with star power, there’s always one player who will inevitably wear the “rookie” label and go through the necessary initiation process before he’s truly invited to sit at the big kids’ table. In the case of Team USA, that player is 21-year-old Roman

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- While his team was playing an exhibition against Team Israel at Clover Park on Wednesday, Nolan McLean took the mound in a Minor League scrimmage on a back field at the Mets’ complex. The numbers -- one run allowed over four innings -- were irrelevant.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies No. 1 prospect Ethan Holliday hadn’t played in a game since September and was last on the field under game conditions in instructional ball last October. But on Wednesday, less than a year after graduation from Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, Holliday, 19, was on the

Clayton Kershaw may have retired from MLB, but he's still pitching against Major League teams. The decorated left-hander, who won three Cy Young Awards, an MVP Award, 11 All-Star selections and three World Series rings over 18 Major League seasons, called it a career following the Dodgers' 2025 World Series

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to crafting his batting order for the World Baseball Classic, and with this roster, it's hard to go wrong. The skipper rolled out a slightly different lineup for today's exhibition game against the Rockies (watch FREE on