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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 1ST ROUND POOL DMarch 12, 2017Marco MazzieriZapopan, Jalisco, México Puerto Rico - 9, Italy - 3 Q. Obviously you guys didn't get the results you wanted, but what is your take on your performance during this tournament? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, I'm just proud of each one of those guys out there, the coaching staff, my players. I think we gave all out, and I hope that people watching from the stands appreciated that because these guys, they've been all out. They played with their heart, and not only with their heart, their souls and everything. We are pleased with our performances. We're not so pleased with the outcome, but that's sport. So we will go back home and be proud of what we showed. Q. Curious what happened to Brandon Nimmo on that play? MARCO MAZZIERI: Actually it's a right hamstring strain, grade 1, so it should take him a couple of weeks. Q. The team just looked really inspired. They came out really hot once again. What happened in those middle innings after the really great brilliant start? MARCO MAZZIERI: I think the guys came out ready and showed it, and then -- I would like to give credit to pitching of the Puerto Rican team because the first two innings they adjusted on our hitters, and they started throwing the first pitch for strikes. We couldn't adjust, and unfortunately our bullpen has not been what we hoped it would have been before the tournament, and it was going to be tough. You can't put a zero on the scoreboard for -- I think they scored five innings, every inning the first five innings. It was going to be tough to come back against. We really spent a lot of energy the first two games, and we just did not come back, and that was also for good pitching performances of Team Puerto Rico. Q. How would you score the total performance of Italy? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, as I was saying before, we gave all out. We played good baseball. We played good, and that is what we wanted to achieve before this series started. I think the balance is positive. We knew that our pitching was not going to be as good as the other team's, and well, we scored quite a bit because we stayed in the game in the first two games, hitting well and playing good defense. Today we had good defense, but the pitching was not as good, and that's it. But I think that we should be proud of the guys that played because they played good, quality pitching. Q. I understand because of the tournament you still have to play one more game to advance in case México wins -- MARCO MAZZIERI: I didn't understand you. Q. I understand because of the rules of the tournament, if México beats Venezuela, you still have a chance to play one tiebreaker. Can you talk about what you expect from that? MARCO MAZZIERI: Yes, that's true. We have to wait for tonight's game, and then there is all kinds of calculation that we're not going to think about now. We're going to see what happens, and then the people that are behind that will let us know, will communicate it. Let's see what happens, but up until right now, we should wait until it happens here. Q. Puerto Rico won all three games; do you think those guys have the talent to win the Classic this year? MARCO MAZZIERI: I believe so because they are good, good pitching, good fielding, good baseball, and besides, I think that they have the passion that they need to play a tournament like this. They are very proud. They looked good. It's a very strong team. It could be that -- I think they're going to be in the last four games in LA. Q. Obviously you had a long career in Italy and you had a big impact on the game there; are you prepared to think about this being the last game that you ever managed? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, yeah. I just told my guys this, that if we're not playing tomorrow, this was my last game managing, yeah. Q. Looking back on your career, what does this day mean to you? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, it's not about my career. It's about all the players that played for me, because wins and losses are in the books, but the emotions and the feelings, it doesn't matter 20 years from now, it will be there forever. It's about them, it's not about me. I want to thank all of them through these 10 years that we had in different events and competitions because they made it special. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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