Team Venezuela defeated Team USA 3-2 to win its first World Baseball Classic championship on March 17.
The game was scoreless with both teams vying to get on the board first, until Venezuela wasted no time trying to produce in the third inning after a single from Salvador Perez and with a walk from USA’s starting pitcher New York Met’s rookie Nolan McLean. Maikel Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Perez for the first run of the night, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
At the top of the fifth inning, Venezuela continued to dominate when Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu hit a 414-foot solo homerun, extending Venezuela’s lead to 2-0. Team USA struggled to create any offense against Venezuela’s pitchers throughout many innings in this game, as the score remained until the bottom of the eighth inning, with Andrés Machado on the mound for Venezuela with a runner on base. Team USA’s Bryce Harper, who struggled to hit, finally hit a 432-foot two-run home run and tied the game 2-2.
Venezuela regained the lead with Eugenio Suárez hitting a double, bringing in a run to score. Team USA, which struggled throughout the game, was unable to gain momentum. But Daniel Palencia, who was on the mound, closed out the game with a strikeout, ending the game 3-2 and giving Venezuela their first championship since joining the WBC tournament in 2006.
This is Team USA’s second time getting the runner-up title in a WBC championship game.
They lost to Japan in the 2023 WBC championship game, and with their last win being in 2017, many fans thought this would be their year due to their lineup and their win against the Dominican Republic to be in the championship.
Emotions ran high during the post-game interview as Fox Sports Reporter Ken Rosenthal asked Suarez what this means for his country. “Nobody believed in Venezuela,” Suárez said. “But now we win the championship today, and this is a celebration for all the Venezuelan country.”
With a stadium full of fans cheering them on, Venezuela raised their trophy proudly and named Garcia — who had 10 runs and seven runs throughout the tournament — the most valuable player.
“All the coaches that last night after our game we went back to floor number seven and we start to study USA until almost 3:00 in the morning,” Team Venezuela Manager Omar López said during the WBC ceremony. “That was for the win tonight and we did it.”
This will be added to not only WBC history but also Venezuela’s history, leaving this night memorable.
