Italy stuns the US 8-6 in World Baseball Classic, leaving the Americans needing help to advance

Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy built a big lead and held on to stun the United States 8-6 Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic.

The U.S. is done with pool play at Houston's Daikin Park and needs the Italians to beat Mexico Wednesday night to be guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals. If Mexico beats Italy, the three teams will be knotted at 3-1 and the winners will be determined by a tiebreaker, with the team that allowed the most runs eliminated.

Italy starter Michael Lorenzen allowed two hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Americans off balance.

Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice and drove in four runs, and Gunnar Henderson added a solo shot for the U.S., but the rally came up short when Greg Weissert struck out Aaron Judge with a runner on to end it.

Crow-Armstrong’s second homer, a shot to the second deck in right field, cut the lead to 8-6 with one out in the ninth. Bobby Witt Jr. singled and Henderson struck out before Judge whiffed to start the Italian celebration.

The U.S. was down by 8-1 with two outs in the seventh when Crow-Armstrong hit a majestic three-run homer to right field.

Kyle Schwarber and Will Smith hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the eighth before Roman Anthony’s RBI single on a line drive to left field. But Ron Marinaccio retired pinch-hitter Bryce Harper on a fly ball to end the inning.

Teel’s home run to the Crawford boxes in left field gave Italy an early lead with two outs in the third. McLean then plunked Caglianone before Antonacci’s homer to the bullpen in right-center made it 3-0.

Caglianone’s two-run shot off Ryan Yarbrough pushed the lead to 5-0 with no outs in the fourth.

The Italians added a run on an error, another on a sacrifice fly and a third on a wild pitch by Brad Keller to push the lead to 8-0 in a sloppy sixth by the U.S.

The U.S. finally got on the board with Henderson's homer in the sixth.

Defending champion Japan completed an unbeaten group stage at the World Baseball Classic, beating the Czech Republic 9-0 at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night behind a nine-run eighth inning capped by Munetaka Murakami's grand slam.

After outscoring opponents 39-9 in going 4-0, Japan advanced to a quarterfinal on Saturday in Miami against Venezuela or the Dominican Republic.

Japan rested Shohei Ohtani, who is hitting .556 with two homers, six RBIs and four walks.

The Czechs, the 2025 European championship bronze medalists, finished 0-4 and were outscored 39-5 while batting .167, 19th among the 20 teams and ahead of only Brazil (.130).

Kenya Wakatsuki hit a go-ahead double in the eighth off loser Michal Kovala, who was removed after Ukyo Shuto's three-run homer. Shugo Maki drew a bases-loaded walk from Ryan Johnson, a two-way player who also appears at first base. Murakami drove a fastball at the top of the strike zone 425 feet into the right-center field seats.

Czech starter Ondrej (pronounced Andre) Satoria allowed six hits over 4 2/3 innings, throwing 42 changeups among 67 pitches. His fastest offering was 79.9 mph.

Satoria is famous in Japan. He struck out Ohtani on three pitches in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

“I’m sad,” Satoria said before the game, knowing Ohtani was out of the lineup. “I think a lot of fans are sad, too. Maybe he’s resting for the long trip to Miami.”

Winner Yumeto Kanemaru struck out five over two perfect innings.

All of the Czech players have day jobs. Satoria, who is retiring from the national team, is an electrician and manager Pavel Chadim — that’s Dr. Chadim — is a neurologist.

Chadim wore the 2025 European championship bronze medal to an interview session.

“I have this medal because I want to show to some people in the world that we are not baseball tourists,” Chadim said. “We are doing baseball as professionals. We don’t want excuses. We play as professionals on the field.”

Jake Gelof drove in three runs and Matt Mervis doubled twice to lead Israel (2-2) over the Netherlands (1-3) in a Group D matchup of already eliminated teams.

Xander Bogaerts' run-scoring grounder and Didi Gregorius' sacrifice fly put the Dutch ahead in the first at Miami but Gelof cut the deficit with an RBI double in the second.

Mervis’ two-run double capped a five-run sixth against loser Kevin Kelly. RJ Schreck hit a tying RBI single and Geloff followed with a two-run single for a 4-2 lead. Four runs in the inning were unearned because Garrett Stubbs reached on a one-out fielding error by first baseman Sharlon Schoop.

Josh Mallitz got the last out in the fifth for the win and Ben Simon struck out three around three walks in the ninth in a non-save situation.

Druw Jones had four walks for the Netherlands, which went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Dutch reliever Ryjeteri Merite allowed one hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings as he appeared in his fifth WBC, tying a mark shared by Venezuela's Miguel Cabrera and Cuba's Alfredo Despaigne.

Rico Garcia forced in the tying and go-ahead runs with consecutive bases-loaded walks to Tyler O’Neill and Tyler Black in the third inning, and Canada beat host Puerto Rico in San Juan to remain in contention to advance from Group A.

Puerto Rico (3-1) had already clinched a berth in the quarterfinals. Canada and Cuba are both 2-1 going into their final game Wednesday, and with a win Canada would advance past the first round for the first time.

In a game that started after a 69-minute rain delay, Nolan Arenado’s first-inning RBI single off winning pitcher Jordan Balazovic put Puerto Rico ahead, but Canada loaded the bases in the third against José De León, and Garcia struggled with control when he relieved.

Abraham Toro added a run-scoring single against Raymond Burgos in the fourth for a 3-1 lead but Martín Maldonado had an RBI groundout against Logan Allen in the bottom half.

Angel Reyes retired Josh Naylor on an inning-ending flyout to strand the bases loaded in the ninth. Brock Dykxhoorn then got three straight outs for his first save.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Italy shortstop Sam Antonacci (10) celebrates his home run against the United States with right fielder Jac Caglianone (14) in the second inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Italy catcher Kyle Teel (3) celebrates as he run the bases after a home run against the United States inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Israel's Jake Gelof (45) follows through on a RBI single to score two runs during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic game against the Netherlands, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Israel's Zach Levenson, left, RJ Schreck, center, and Noah Mendlinger (3) celebrate after Israel defeated the Netherlands in a World Baseball Classic game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Canada's Denzel Clarke celebrates after scoring against Puerto Rico during the third inning of a World Baseball Classic game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Czech Republic's pitcher Ondrej Satoria pitches to a Japan batter during the inning of a World Baseball Classic game between Japan and the Czech Republic on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Japan's Munetaka Murakami runs for his grand slam home run during the eighth inning of a World Baseball Classic game between Japan and the Czech Republic on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

NEW YORK (AP) — The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew wider Friday, as U.S. stocks rose toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week, their best such streak since 2023. That's even though a survey showed U.S. consumers are feeling even worse about the economy.

The S&P 500 added 0.7% and pulled closer to its all-time high set in the middle of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 408 points, or 0.8%, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.

Ross Stores helped drive the market and rose 6.5% after the off-price retailer reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that easily cleared analysts’ expectations. CEO Jim Conroy said it saw strong customer traffic through the three months, and the company may have benefited from households spending their tax refunds.

Estee Lauder jumped 9.9% after saying it was no longer considering a possible merger with Puig, the Spanish fragrance and beauty products company.

Workday rose 3.9%, and Zoom Communications jumped 11.1% after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They’re the latest companies to top analysts’ expectations for profits for the start of 2026, and the cavalcade of such reports has helped U.S. stocks remain near their records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

The strength is coming even after a survey of U.S. consumers by the University of Michigan found sentiment fell to a record low, piercing below a bottom in 2022 when inflation peaked above 9%. Households are feeling worried about how bad inflation is now because of expensive oil created by the war with Iran.

U.S. consumers are forecasting inflation will worsen to 4.8% in the coming 12 months, up from a forecast of 4.7% last month, according to the survey. In the longer run, their forecasts for inflation jumped to 3.9% from 3.5% last month. Such rising expectations are a concern for economists because they can drive behavior that creates a vicious cycle that makes inflation worse.

Sentiment dropped in particular for lower-income consumers who are least able to absorb more expensive essentials, and it fell for Republicans as well, according to the survey.

Helping to keep uncertainty high have been continued swings for oil prices. They yo-yoed again on Friday, like they did through the week on uncertainty about when the United States and Iran may find a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was last up 1% to $103.60. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, rose 0.7% to $97.04 per barrel after both erased earlier losses.

Worries about inflation staying high have pushed bond yields higher worldwide, threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks, bitcoin and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

Yields had been down Friday morning, offering some relief, but they climbed after oil prices erased their losses and the survey on consumer sentiment showed worsening inflation expectations.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury pulled back to 4.57%, where it was late Thursday, and remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

Worries about inflation have climbed so high that traders on Wall Street have eliminated bets that the Federal Reserve will resume its cuts to interest rates this year. Lower rates would give the economy a boost, but they could also worsen inflation.

An important member of the Fed, Gov. Christopher Waller, said in a speech Friday, “If I believe inflation expectations start to become unanchored, I would not hesitate to support an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate.”

But he also said that is not the case now, and it “is time to simply sit and watch how the conflict and the data evolve” in his speech titled “Policy Risks Have Changed.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.7% to another record after a report showed inflation hitting a four-year low in April, at 1.4%, despite higher prices for oil and gas due to the war.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Specialist Anthony Matesic, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Options trader Steven Rodriguez, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer talks on the phone at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Asia markets index of Japan, South Korea and Australia is seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)