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Aaron Nola Tosses Five Shutout Innings, USA Advances Out of WBC Pool Play
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Team USA has officially advanced through pool play in the World Baseball Classic thanks to Aaron Nola, Vinnie Pasquantino, and the power of espresso.
Italy defeated Mexico on Wednesday night by a whopping score of 9-1. Mexico, who came into this game as a -2.5 run favorite, struggled on the mound all night and couldn’t get anything going against the Italian pitchers, especially Nola.
It was a great outing for Nola, who is looking for a bounce back year after the worst season of his career in 2025. He tossed five shutout innings, allowing just four hits while striking out five and walking one. He threw 69 pitches, 45 for strikes. Nola topped out at 94.5 mph, a number he hit just three times throughout the entire 2025 season.
That’s now three really good outings for Nola to start the year. He’s totaled 10 innings this spring in two starts with the Phillies and his start for Italy, allowing just one earned one while striking out 11.
There were multiple ways to root for the game. 2018 Aaron Nola would’ve been good, for the sake of Italy winning. 2025 Aaron Nola would’ve also been good (but sad to watch), for the sake of Mexico getting to the 5-run mark that Team USA needed for the “runs against” tiebreaker.
It’s pretty hilarious that we had to sweat out Italy vs Mexico just to move on to after weeks of debating if this USA team is the most talented baseball team ever assembled. Luckily, the Italians didn’t make it a sweat. A couple home runs (three from Pasquantino), a few base-hit RBIs, and an RBI bunt from Phillies #7 prospect Dante Nori gave Italy a comfortable lead all night:
USA advances and will go on to play Canada in the quarterfinals. USA has had a pretty great couple of weeks against Canada, defeating them in the Olympics for the gold medal in both women’s and men’s hockey. Now, it’s time to send them home from the World Baseball Classic.
Shoutout to the paisans. I couldn’t tell you how many of them are actually even from Italy, but that’s not the point! Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brad Keller owe Aaron Nola a couple cases of cold Yuengling.
Luke Arcaini writes about the Phillies for Crossing Broad, covers the Phillies for FOX Sports The Gambler, and co-hosts "Phillies Digest" on YouTube. The wave is the worst thing in all of sports. Contact: lukearcaini8@gmail.com