"Kershaw, whose role on Team USA was described by Jesse Rogers of ESPN as a "'break glass in case of emergency' player," was spotted warming up in Team USA's eventual loss to Team Italy. Kershaw hadn't appeared in pool play yet, taking the mound only in an exhibition game between Team USA and the Colorado Rockies."
"Given Kershaw's age - he retired from the MLB after last season - he wasn't expected to pitch meaningful innings for Team USA. He instead was likely to be used in blowouts, which, to be fair, the USA-Italy game was for a while. But by the time Kershaw was warming up, what had been an 8-0 lead for Italy had closed to 8-4."
"With the Italians' 8-6 win, the American squad now faces possible elimination depending on the results of Team Mexico versus Team Italy Wednesday evening. That could've been avoided entirely if the U.S. defeated Italy, but instead, DeRosa played bench players like Paul Goldschmidt and Gunnar Henderson."
Clayton Kershaw, the retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, was designated as a "break glass in case of emergency" player for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He warmed up during the game against Italy but did not enter. Kershaw's only appearance was in an exhibition game against the Colorado Rockies, where he surrendered a 414-foot home run. Team USA lost to Italy 8-6, a result that now jeopardizes their advancement to the quarterfinals. The loss was particularly significant because the Americans needed the victory to secure their spot, though manager Mark DeRosa had indicated otherwise before the game. Team USA's path forward depends on complex tiebreaker scenarios involving results from Mexico versus Italy.
Read at Dodgersnation
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