Italy's Butera stumbled into Perez, and the backstop held onto the ball to end the ninth inning with the score tied at 10. Butera appeared to try limiting contact with Perez but still fell into his left knee, and Perez struggled to put weight on the leg as he was helped off the field. Team Venezuela released a statement saying Perez had an MRI that showed no damage to the knee beyond swelling and that he'd miss the rest of the tournament. The 2015 World Series MVP had surgery in 2012 to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. I did not know that the Italians can play ball like that."

Source: ABC News March 12, 2017 01:28 UTC