SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Derek Jeter has had this helpless feeling before. His team has all the talent in the world and nothing to show for it.

Yankees fans know what he is talking about.

“It’s sort of like in New York,” Jeter said yesterday, knowing full well that Team USA would have been eliminated in shocking fashion in the first round of the World Baseball Classic if Mexico beat Canada and scored fewer than three runs in their game last night at Chase Field. “You figure with all the talent we have [with the Yankees] that we should make it to the World Series, but no matter how you look at it, talent doesn’t win games, performance wins games.

“A lot of people are talented, you have to perform.”

And that’s why Jeter and Team USA had that helpless feeling on the day following their humiliating 8-6 loss to Canada, a loss that set up the doomsday scenario.

“We put ourselves in this position,” Jeter said.

If Canada won last night, or lost and allowed more than three runs, the United States would move on to the second round in Anaheim, provided the U.S. beats South Africa today with Roger Clemens on the mound. Clemens was not at the workout yesterday, instead visiting Rangers camp in Surprise, Ariz.

There was nervous energy throughout Team USA’s long practice. When the workout was complete, a group of hitters that included Jeter and Alex Rodriguez came back out to take extra hitting at Scottsdale Stadium.

“We don’t want to go back to Tampa just yet,” Rodriguez said.

If Team USA does advance, a lesson has been learned.

“If things work out well,” A-Rod said, “I think it will be a great lesson for us in these tournaments. We have to go back to when we were 13-14 years old to realize how to play by these rules, I don’t know if half the team knew what was going on yesterday, until you guys explained it to us. If we do move onto Anaheim we realize how important each game is, how important each run is. It might be the best thing that ever happened to us going down the stretch because we realized we put our destiny in other people’s hands.

“We need to play with the urgency of an NCAA bracket, where every game is the most meaningful game,” he added.

Asked what the team learned, Jeter said with a smile: “We learned the rules. I wasn’t aware of all those scenarios; I had no clue. I just figured pretty much if you win two games you’re in, I didn’t know about all these other earned runs, things like that.”

Team USA was clueless to the tie-breaking rules of pool play, which was a major mistake.

“It’s very bizarre,” Johnny Damon, self-professed Idiot, said of the rules. “It makes you use your mind a little more than you want to. This tie-breaking stuff, you have to go to school to learn.”

Ditto catcher Michael Barrett.

“I’m just a baseball player,” he said, “I’m not a math major.”

Now Team USA, if it lives to play in Anaheim, will step up its intensity.

“If you’re winning the game, you’re still bunting goes over trying to score,” Jeter said. “Regardless of the score we’ll be bunting in the ninth inning.”

No one thought the South Africa game would mean anything more than a tune-up, but it has become a game the U.S. has to win – if things fell right last night.

“It makes the stage bigger for Rocket,” Jeter said. “He likes that.”

“With our team we feel we can get off and win this [tournament],” Damon said.

As for his scouting report on South Africa: “We don’t know much, we know they have a couple guys who play pro ball and there are some really young kids who are enjoying Scottsdale.”

The fate of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic rested largely on last night’s game between Canada and Mexico because of the WBC’s tie-breaking formula that takes into account the runs allowed among teams who finish the three-game opening pool with identical records. Team USA, Canada and Mexico can all finish tied at 2-1.

Here are the possibilities for Group B going into yesterday’s action:

Team USA advances to the second round if it defeats South Africa today

AND

Canada defeated Mexico last night.

OR

Mexico defeated Canada by three or more runs last night.

Canada advances to the second round if it defeated Mexico last night

OR

It lost to Mexico, but allowed two or fewer runs.

Mexico advances to the second round if it defeated Canada last night

OR

It lost to Canada and USA loses to South Africa today by seven or more runs.

RUNS ALLOWED (before last night)

Canada (2-0 record): 6 to USA

USA (1-1): 0 to Mexico; 8 to Canada

Mexico (1-1): 2 to USA

*- Runs allowed to South Africa don’t come into play because South Africa can’t finish tied at 2-1.

SCHEDULE

Last night

At Phoenix

Canada vs. Mexico

Today

At Scottsdale, Ariz.

South Africa at United States, 3 p.m.