'Mr. March' Vinnie Pasquantino homers 3 times to extend magical Italy WBC run

Vinnie Pasquantino, the leader for Italy, stepped up with three home runs to power his team into the WBC quarterfinals. Just call him \

HOUSTON — Vinnie Pasquantino, walking though the corridor with a half-empty can of beer Wednesday night, lifted up his blue suit jacket, smelled it, and wrinkled his nose.

He has worn the same suit every day, to day games and night games, with Team Italy at Daikin Park, maintaining the tradition Italy manager Francisco Cervelli established for his team in this World Baseball Classic.

But Pasquantino may have made a serious wardrobe miscalculation.

Team Italy, which was supposed to be dismissed from the World Baseball Classic after four games in pool play, is sticking around for awhile, and perhaps may have another flight to catch. It pulled off a second consecutive stunning upset Wednesday, 9-1, over Mexico.

The team that was supposed to be an afterthought, suddenly is on everyone’s forefront, sweeping all four games in the WBC to win Pool B and be a No. 1 seed for the first time in Italy history. It will play Puerto Rico on Saturday afternoon at Daikin Park for the right to play in the semifinals in Miami.