Pasquantino has WBC's first 3-homer game to lead Italy over Mexico, advancing US to quarterfinals

Vinnie Pasquantino had the World Baseball Classic's first three-homer game, leading Italy over Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday night to win Pool B and advance the United States to the quarterfinals as group's second-place team.

Italy's victory ended a day of uncertainty for the Americans, who needed help to reach the quarterfinals after losing to Italy 8-6 on Tuesday night.

Pasquantino, who opened the tournament 0 for 12, homered leading off the second, sixth and eighth innings to propel Italy to the quarterfinals for a third time and the second tournament in a row. Jon Berti also homered for Italy to help build a big lead early.

The Italians will face Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals in Houston on Saturday, a day after the U.S. plays Canada, which advanced past the first round for the first time.

Mexico's loss eliminated it from qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a disappointment for a team that finished third in the 2023 WBC, losing to eventual champion Japan in the semifinals.

Italy went 4-0 in pool play after no other European team had won more than two WBC games in a row.

Pasquantino celebrated with an espresso shot from the dugout machine after each homer, Italy’s fitting celebration after home runs.

He tried to bunt on his first pitch, then homered to the first row of the right-field seats off Javier Assad in the second inning. Berti’s shot to to left doubled the lead in the fourth.

Dante Nori's run-scoring sacrifice bunt extended the lead in a three-run fifth capped by Jakob Marsee’s two-run single for a 5-0 lead.

Pasquantino homered starting the sixth against Daniel Duarte and again off Robert Garcia in the eighth.

Winner Aaron Nola allowed four hits and struck out five in five scoreless innings. Assad took the loss, permitting four runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Mexico loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh but managed just one run on a groundout by Alek Thomas.

Canada advanced past the first round of the World Baseball Classic for the first time, beating Cuba 7-2 Wednesday in a winner-take-all game at San Juan, Puerto Rico, behind Abraham Toro's homer and Otto Lopez's two-run single.

Brothers Bo Naylor and Josh Naylor drove in runs, Owen Caissie had two RBIs and reliever James Paxton struck out six over 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Canada (3-1), which eliminated the Cubans (2-2) and won Group A over Puerto Rico (3-1). Cuba was knocked out in the first round for the first time.

Cuba finished with three errors, and left fielder Ariel Martinez allowed Toro’s catchable fly starting the seventh to fall for a double. The Canadians broke open the game with a three-run sixth inning that included a dropped popup, a foul pop that fell, a wild pickoff throw and a catcher's interference call on Andrys Perez, whose passed ball led to Canada's first run.

Cuba escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first when Matt Davidson hit an inning-ending popout off loser Livan Moinelo, but Canada went ahead in the third on Caissie's sacrifice fly. Toro homered in the fifth on a splitter from Yariel Rodríguez, a 420-foot drive to right.

Cuba scored in the bottom half on Yoelkis Guibert's run-scoring groundout off winner Cal Quantrill, who allowed an unearned run and two hits over five innings.

Canada opened a 3-1 lead in the sixth on Bo Naylor's RBI double.

Martinez drove in a run in the bottom half with his third hit and Josh Naylor had an RBI single in the seventh on a soft fly to left that popped up of the glove of Martinez, who tried for a sliding catch.

Cuba went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Adam Macko escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when Yiddi Cappe swung over a curveball and James Paxton struck out Moncada in the seventh to leave runners at the corners.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Ketel Marte, Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — the top four hitters in the order — all homered, and the Dominican Republic finished off an unbeaten run through Pool D.

Both teams entered the game — played before a sellout crowd of 36,230 in Miami — knowing they were headed to the quarterfinals.

Tatis, Marte, Soto and Guerrero were a combined 9 for 18 for the winners, driving in all seven runs and scoring five of them.

The Dominican Republic (4-0) takes on South Korea in a quarterfinal on Friday, while Venezuela (3-1) will face Shohei Ohtani and Japan on Saturday. Ranger Suarez starts for Venezuela and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Samurai Warriors.

Maikel Garcia was 4 for 4, scored two runs and had an RBI for Venezuela, while Luis Arraez drove in a pair of runs — including a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Venezuela loaded the bases, down by four, with no outs, and Arraez made it 7-4 with a liner to left.

Willson Contreras hit a grounder on the next pitch that could have been turned into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play, but Elvis Alvarado’s throw sailed into center field and Ronald Acuña Jr. scored.

But that would be it for the rally: Salvador Perez grounded into a game-ending double play.

Soto hit a two-run home run in the first inning off loser Eduardo Rodriguez, his second of this year’s tournament and the fourth of his WBC career — tying Nelson Cruz and Adrián Beltré for the most in his nation’s history.

Marte and Guerrero connected on solo shots in the third inning, then Tatis hit a three-run homer in the fourth for a 7-3 lead.

Venezuela came in having allowed five runs in its first three WBC contests; it gave up seven in the first four innings Wednesday. The Dominican Republic outscored its four pool-play opponents 41-10.

Winner Sandy Alcantara — the Marlins’ ace, pitching in his home ballpark — gave up three runs and five hits while striking out three in three innings.

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

Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino hits a home run in the second inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino runs the bases after a home run in the eighth inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino celebrates a home run with an expresso in the second inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino runs the bases after a home run in the eighth inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Italy first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino hits a home run in the second inning of a World Baseball Classic game against Mexico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Canadian players celebrate at the end of a World Baseball Classic game Cuba in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Canadian players celebrate at the end of a World Baseball Classic game Cuba in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Cuba's Livan Moinelo pitches in the first inning against Canada during a World Baseball Classic game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Cuba's Livan Moinelo pitches in the first inning against Canada during a World Baseball Classic game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Canada's Abraham Toro celebrates while running the bases after hitting a one-run home run against Cuba during the fifth inning of a World Baseball Classic game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Cuba's Yoel Yanqui slides in safe at third base as Canada's Abraham Toro looks on during the fifth inning of a World Baseball Classic game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Soldiers were deployed to the streets of South Africa’s biggest city Wednesday in an effort to help police fight gang violence and illegal mining.

It was the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual speech to the nation last month that he would use the army against organized crime, which he called the greatest threat to democracy and the country's economic development.

Soldiers jumped from vehicles and entered apartment blocks as military vehicles moved through the Riverlea and Westbury suburbs of Johannesburg.

Many residents of Riverlea expressed relief to see soldiers deployed to stem the violence.

One resident, Pearl Hilma, told The Associated Press that she supports the crackdown “because there’s lots of gangsterism as well as gunshots every night” in the neighborhood.

Some of the buildings in the area have graffiti signs denouncing the scourge of crime, with one near a school reading “No to Guns, Pray for our Community.”

South Africa's police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment.

Authorities had previously said the military deployment in different parts of the country would start March 1, but it was delayed while soldiers received training. The army will operate under police command during the deployment.

Another resident, Yasin Botha, said the presence of both police and military reassured him that there would be a quick reaction now when shootings occur.

“Currently, I feel unsafe because we don’t know when the next shooting is going to happen and we don’t know who it is targeted at,” Botha said.

Ramaphosa said in a notice to the Speaker of Parliament that 550 soldiers would be involved in an initial deployment in the Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, due to last until the end of April.

The government plans a wider deployment in five of its nine provinces, according to details submitted by police to Parliament. The deployment will focus on illegal mining in the Gauteng, North West and Free State provinces, and gang violence in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

Parts of the national deployment could last more than a year, police officials said.

South Africa has high rates of violent crime. Police reported 6,351 homicides from October to December 2025, an average of nearly 70 a day in a country of around 62 million people, while there are also high numbers of attempted murders and violent assaults.

South Africa has deployed the army several times in recent years to help with outbursts of crime and disorder, including in 2021, when riots and looting in two provinces sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma and frustrations over COVID-19 lockdowns led to the deaths of more than 350 people.

Ramaphosa has said that the deployment of soldiers was carefully considered given the army was used to crush pro-democracy protests during South Africa's decades of enforced racial segregation under the apartheid system, which ended in 1994.

But he said it had “become necessary due to a surge in violent organized crime that threatens the safety of our people and the authority of the state.”

The deployment has largely been welcomed, though some political parties have said it is an admission that police have largely failed to curb crime.

Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa contributed to this report.

This spelling of a resident's name has been corrected to Yasin Botha in the ninth paragraph.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A resident uses a mobile phone to take a photograph of the South African National Defense Force officers deployed in the area, in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A man watches on South African National Defense Force officers patrolling the street in the Westbury township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Force officers search suspects, in the Westbury township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the RIverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)