{"id":2330678,"date":"2026-03-16T05:22:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2330678"},"modified":"2026-03-16T05:22:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:22:48","slug":"how-royals-players-performed-in-italy-puerto-rico-wbc-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/how-royals-players-performed-in-italy-puerto-rico-wbc-game\/","title":{"rendered":"How Royals players performed in Italy-Puerto Rico WBC game"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There was always a chance.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A lot had to go right. The dominoes had to fall in order. And the clock had to strike twice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But there was always a chance that Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo would face his teammates<\/a> in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Lugo \u2014 representing Puerto Rico \u2014 took the mound against Italy in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals at Daikin Park in Houston.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He stood squarely across from Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, to be honest with you,\u201d Caglianone told reporters of any pregame banter. \u201cI know Seth\u2019s a very smart player. I spent a lot of time last year just talking game plan with him in the dugout. He definitely sees the game differently. But I think as long as we can keep doing what we\u2019ve been doing, I think we\u2019ll be in a good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Italy had done was exceptional. The team entered undefeated in WBC play, having taken out a pair of heavyweights in the United States and Mexico.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fans loved the espresso machine<\/a> in the dugout. They got to know Pasquantino, Caglianone, Michael Lorenzen and a host of others.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s game was different. A win would propel Italy\u2019s squad further than it had been in the global tournament.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lugo stood in their way \u2026 just not for long.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the first inning, Pasquantino laced a breaking ball into center field. The RBI single tied the game at 1-1. It was the catalyst for a four-run first inning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Moments later, Caglianone added an RBI single of his own. He ripped a line drive into right field as Pasquantino came home to score.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Italy took a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lugo wouldn\u2019t last much longer. He was pulled from the game after completing one-third of an inning. He was charged with four earned runs, three hits and two walks. He finished the WBC with an 8.31 ERA.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Italy earned an 8-6 victory in convincing fashion. Pasquantino and Caglianone combined for two of the club\u2019s eight hits.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d Pasquantino said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it would be hyperbole to say this is the best day in Italian baseball history, just getting here. It\u2019s the furthest the team\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Italy has a chance to win the entire tournament. They will face Venezuela on March 16 at loanDepot Park in Miami. Venezuela defeated Japan 8-5 later Saturday night.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With Venezuela advancing, there will be another Royals crossover. Venezuela has Royals stars Maikel Garcia, Salvador Perez and emerging pitcher Luinder Avila.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For now, Italy is basking in the spotlight of a magical Cinderella run.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a part of the team in \u201823 that lost to Japan in this round,\u201d Pasquantino said. \u201cAnd now obviously we\u2019ve made it a little bit further and we still have a lot of work to do. But it\u2019s incredible for the federation \u2014 (infielder) Andrew Fischer is here, ladies and gentlemen \u2014 it\u2019s incredible for the federation, for the work that Marco (Mazzieri, president of Italian Baseball Federation) and Francisco (Cervelli, manager) have been doing, it\u2019s just amazing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we\u2019ve been able to advance this far just gets more eyeballs on them and it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Related Stories from Kansas City Star<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n

Jaylon Thompson<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Star<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

Jaylon Thompson covers the Royals for The Kansas City Star. He previously covered the 2021 World Series and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jaylon is a proud alumnus of the University of Georgia.<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was always a chance. A lot had to go right. The dominoes had to fall in order. And the clock had to strike twice. But there was always a chance that Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo would face his teammates in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. On Saturday, Lugo \u2014 representing Puerto Rico […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2056456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[279830,43627,244474,102808,400055],"class_list":["post-2330678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-jac-caglianone","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-seth-lugo","tag-vinnie-pasquantino","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Cole-Ragans-shines-as-KC-Royals-finish-2025-on-high.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2330678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2330679,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330678\/revisions\/2330679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2330678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2330678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2330678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}