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Italy battled for a wild, important first-game victory over Cuba in Pool A of the World Baseball Classic on Thursday night. They had great pitching, clutch hitting, espresso in the dugout, timely defense and, maybe most importantly, mustaches.

What matters more than maybe the number of superstars you have on your team or the depth of Major League talent on your roster — especially in a tournament where guys are only together for a couple weeks — is team chemistry. How quickly players can get along with one another. You can see it in the 2-0 Netherlands team and, after watching Italy’s win and postgame presser, you see how something as silly as growing mustaches has bonded the group.

“Behind the scenes, you know, our team is close,” infielder Nicky Lopez said. “We are hungry individuals who want to make a name for ourselves, but in the same breath we are playing for each other, and you could see that tonight. We are top-stepping it, pushing for one another.”

They even got their manager on board.

“I mean, what am I going to say, no, when they ask me to shave and make my mustache like the good old days?” Mike Piazza said. “They wanted to see from ’93, ’94, ’95. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll bring it back.'”

No pitcher was hurt more by his catchers’ blocking last season than one Shohei Ohtani. But it’s not the backstops’ fault — it’s just that Ohtani is so good.

Espresso’s roots are in Italy, so it only makes sense that the country’s World Baseball Classic team has a Nespresso machine in its dugout.

Before they begin their World Baseball Classic quest, Willy Adames and Jeremy Peña spent some time with 120 kids at a free baseball clinic on Friday.

MLB Pipeline tasked experts Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo with drafting the best possible teams of big league-ready prospects. Here’s how their teams shake out.

Jenny Cavnar, Angie Mentink, Jen Mueller and Julia Morales will be on the air for Mariners-Rockies at 3 p.m. ET, with game producer Alison Vigil and director Erica Ferrero behind the scenes.

Where did your favorite players rank? Find out and learn new game features at noon ET on MLB Network.

The Sox take on their Fort Myers neighbors in Grapefruit League action live at 1 p.m. ET.

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