The World Baseball Classic has a vise grip on baseball fans across the globe and its provided unprecedented levels of entertainment so far. The 2026 tournament includes some of the biggest stars in the baseball world, the first walk-off home run in WBC history, and after March 10, a legendary upset.
Team Italy stunned team USA by racing out to an 8-0 lead by the top of the sixth inning — early home runs from Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone had the espresso shots flowing, and a lights-out performance from Michael Lorenzen kept American bats silent.
But the team of All-Stars from the U.S. couldn't be denied all game. Gunnar Henderson homered in the sixth inning and Pete Crow-Armstrong mashed a three-run homer in the seventh and a solo shot in the ninth to bring the U.S. within two runs.
As has occurred seemingly all tournament, it came down to a Boston Red Sox player to lift his team to victory. As Italy's closer, Greg Weissert found himself in two situations he's been in before.
Weissert allowed a one-out single to Bobby Witt Jr. to begin his outing, with Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge — two American League East rivals — to follow. The former struck out swinging on five pitches, and he got Judge with a changeup low and inside.
Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert strikes out Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge as team Italy triumphs over team USA in WBC
That's Weissert with the save‼️ pic.twitter.com/IjxK20I6Go
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 11, 2026
Weissert has over a dozen opportunities to face Henderson and Judge in the regular season if they're all healthy all year. His history against the New York Yankees captain made his WBC triumph even better, since Judge is 2-for-3 with a double and two walks against Weissert in his career.
Weissert is the latest Red Sox player to make a huge statement in the WBC. Roman Anthony's logged five hits and six RBI for the U.S., Masataka Yoshida has dominated at the plate for Japan, Nate Eaton homered off Tarik Skubal and Brayan Bello pitched five shutout innings with seven strikeouts against Israel.
But Weissert's moment means a little more for the upcoming Red Sox season. Not only was team Italy not expected to be as successful as it has been, with a 3-0 record after beating the United States, Weissert silenced Judge, the best hitter in the game of baseball now and the face of his former team.
Boston returned to the playoffs in 2025 for the first time in three seasons and its players struggled to meet the moment, mainly with streaky offensive performances. But the WBC has shown that the Red Sox have the skill and attitude to win in huge moments, even against some of the best talent baseball has to offer.