Team Italy loses extra-inning heartbreaker 11-10 to Venezuela in second 2017 WBC game in Jalisco, Mexico

A truly talented roster of under the radar players on Team Italy nearly beat an MLB All-Star infused Venezuela lineup that featured Jose Altuve, Martin Prado, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez, Victor Martinez and Salvador Perez at Estadio de Beisbol Charros de Jalisco in Guadalajara. The stakes were high for Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel as his team was defeated by Puerto Rico the night prior the Italy game. An Italian upset would have surely put Venezuela in a dire situation with little chance of advancing from WBC Pool D action with Italy, Mexico and Puerto Rico. As a result of today’s contest, Team Italy and Venezuela are now tied 1-1 in the WBC standings.

Venezuela may have underestimated Team Italy since the last time they met in the 2009 WBC at Rogers Center in Toronto, Canada. After all, Venezuela was victorious twice and ultimately eliminated the Italians from the competition. Instead of finding an easy win over Italy, Venezuela found themselves on the ropes fighting for dear life early.

Team Italy scored in the first inning after Venezuela starter Martin Perez intentionally walked Rob Segedin, who came home on a Daniel Descalso RBI double to give Italy a 1-0 lead. Team Italy starter Sam Gaviglio kept Venezuela hitters guessing and off the bases. With two out in the top of the third inning, Venezuela’s Martin Prado tried to leg a single into a double in order to be in scoring position for slugger Miguel Cabrera. Testing the speed and accuracy of Team Italy left fielder Rob Segedin, Prado was sadly mistaken when Segedin fielded the ball perfectly and threw rapidly to second with time to spare for an important out to end the top half of the inning.

With two out in the bottom of the third inning, Venezuelan-born Team Italy catcher Francisco Cervelli singled to right. Having given Italy’s Rob Segedin a free pass on his first at-bat, lefty Venezuela pitcher Perez challenged Segedin and lost. The LA Dodger utility player doubled and advanced Cervelli to third. After a visit to the mound by Venezuela pitching coach Roberto Espinoza, Perez hunkered down and threw his best to Italy’s Daniel Descalso. The Arizona Diamondback infielder drilled a two-run double to increase the Azzurri lead to 3-0. In the top of the fourth inning, Mariners pitching prospect Gavigilio faced the heart of Venezuela’s lineup for a second time. After the dangerous Miguel Cabrera grounded out, the equally lethal Carlos Gonzales was granted an intentional walk. Venezuela DH Victor Martinez laced an infield shot down the first base line that was destined for an RBI extra base hit; however, Team Italy first baseman Chris Colabello demonstrated his defensive prowess when he tagged the bag while fielding the ball and threw to shortstop Gavin Cecchini to complete the double play and end the Venezuela scoring threat.

Former Charros de Jalisco star and current Team Italy favorite Alex Liddi showed the fans inside his old stomping grounds in Guadalajara why he won the Mexican League Home Run Derby when he launched a sonic missile to the left field bleachers and gave Team Italy a 4-0 advantage over Venezuela. A visually frustrated Venezuela skipper Vizquel visited pitcher Martin Perez on the mound and decided to summon reliever Bruce Rondon out the bullpen. Hoping to stop the bleeding, Rondon went right to work and struck out Italy DH Drew Butera. Then Azzurri shortstop Gavin Cecchini flew out to right. It appeared Venezuela manager Omar Vizquel made the right call by taking out his starter until Italy leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo stepped up to the plate. The Mets #1 selection of the 2011 MLB draft took Rondon deep to center for a homer which gave Italy a 5-0 lead going into the top of the fifth inning. Team Italy starting pitcher Gaviglio surrendered a Salvador Perez double before getting Odubel Herrera to fly out to center. Having thrown nearly five complete scoreless innings against a stacked Venezuela lineup, it looked like Gaviglio had enough gas in the tank to get out of trouble. But an RBI single by Alcides Escobar sent manager Marco Mazzieri out with the hook for his starter. Reliever Tiago Da Silva came in the game with Italy leading 5-1 but left an inning later with his team ahead 5-3. The hard-throwing A.J. Morris replaced the Brazilian-born Da Silva after giving up a single up the middle to Venezuela DH Victor Martinez in the top of the sixth inning. Venezuela got hot quickly taking aim at Italy reliever Morris, who gave two runs and the slim lead. With the score tied 5-5 in the top of the seventh inning, Italy closer Mark DeMark made an early appearance to bail Morris out.

A seesaw battle ensued with Venezuela taking the lead and Team Italy catching up to tie the game in the eighth and ninth innings. With the Italy-Venezuela WBC rematch going into extra-innings, Italy manager Mazzieri depleted his bullpen. During the final four innings of play, Team Italy relievers Tommy Layne, Pat Venditte, Trey Nielsen and Filippo Crepaldi saw action. Despite losing the game 11-10 to Venezuela in 10 innings, Italy showed resilience throughout the contest. Should Team Italy get another chance to face Venezuela in a possible tiebreaker game on March 13th at Estadio de Beisbol Charros de Jalisco, the results could turn out differently with an Azzurri victory and the opportunity for Italy to advance in the WBC to the second round at Petco Park in San Diego. Forza Italia! 

Roberto Angotti