Like a shot of espresso, Italy jolts Team USA

HOUSTON – They turned down the temperature of their dugout espresso machine when the first celebratory sips of this tournament came out too hot. But Team Italy is now officially the hottest team of Pool B in this World Baseball Classic after a stunning 8-6 win over Team USA in pool play Tuesday night at Daikin Park.

The American dream that accompanies the most loaded roster Team USA has ever taken into this tournament was interrupted by the Azzurri in a potent performance of paisan power. Though the U.S. made it awfully interesting late, by then Italy had already espress’d itself.

Catcher Kyle Teel, shortstop Sam Antonacci and right fielder Jac Caglianone all went deep, starter Michael Lorenzen tamed the star-laden U.S. lineup for 4 2/3 innings, and the Italian players, who stood arm-in-arm and sung Italian songs in the aisle of their charter flight to Houston, have a chance, with one game of pool play remaining against Mexico on Wednesday night, to shock the baseball world by winning Pool B outright and taking a top seed in the quarterfinals.

Should Italy beat Mexico, it will have gone a perfect 4-0 in pool play for the first time in six appearances in the Classic. Team USA, which is idle Wednesday, would advance to the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed in that scenario.

If Mexico beats Italy, Team Italy, the U.S. and Mexico would all be 3-1, and the three teams would be ranked based on runs allowed divided by defensive outs recorded, with the top two teams advancing.

This was not the scenario envisioned for Team USA coming into this tournament, but the Americans’ smooth start to the Classic was upended by Italy in this one.

Teel and Antonacci, both members of the White Sox organization, sent good vibes to the South Side and gave Italy a 3-0 lead by connecting with four-seamers offered up by the Mets’ Nolan McLean in the second. Alas, Teel’s good vibes would later give way to the right hamstring injury he suffered while running the bases on a double in the sixth, forcing him from the game.

When Caglianone smoked a 110.4-mph two-run shot off Ryan Yarbrough in the top of the fourth, the U.S.-oriented audience of 38,653 got tense. And when Team USA came unglued in the sixth, with reliever Brad Keller making a throwing error and uncorking a wild pitch in the midst of Italy’s three-run inning, the Italians took an unthinkable 8-0 edge.

Team USA’s lineup proved too stacked to not make it interesting. Gunnar Henderson took Dan Altavilla deep for a solo shot to get the Americans on the board in the sixth, and Pete Crow-Armstrong, whose would-be homer in this previous at-bat had hooked foul, straightened it out in the seventh by launching a crowd-awakening three-run blast off Alek Jacob to make it 8-4.

The rally effort continued in eighth, when the U.S. put two aboard with two out and Roman Anthony laced an RBI single to left to cut the deficit down to three. The fans were on their feet when Bryce Harper came to bat as a pinch-hitter and worked the count full against Ron Marinaccio, but Harper flied out to left to end the threat.

Another Crow-Armstrong dinger with one out in the ninth cut it down to 8-6, and Bobby Witt Jr. ripped a single to bring the tying run to the plate. With two out, that tying run was represented by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge. But Italy reliever Greg Weissert got the American captain to go down swinging to end the game.