Suarez exclaimed in an on-field interview with Fox<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a celebration for all of the Venezuela [people].\u201d<\/p>\nArguably the most talented lineup the U.S. has ever assembled in the WBC struggled throughout to muster not only hits but to make hard contact, as the Americans were stymied most of the game by the Venezuelan staff.<\/p>\n
Venezuela outfielder Wilyer Abreu (16) reacts after hitting a home run against the United States in the fifth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Championship game at loanDepot Park on March 17, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
United States right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out against the Venezuela in the first inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Championship game at loanDepot Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Harper had two of the three United States hits, with Brice Turang collecting the other. Captain Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber, hitting third and fourth in the lineup, went a combined 0-for-7 with six strikeouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came out of Arizona absolutely smoking the ball in the two exhibition games we played and for what whatever reason, we just couldn\u2019t get it rolling offensively,\u201d manager Mark DeRosa told reporters. \u201cEven tonight, you look up in the seventh, and they had a two-hit shutout. \u201cHats off to them. For them to battle last night against Italy, for them to use their entire bullpen, those guys to come back out on no rest was pretty special to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Americans had two singles and did not move a runner past first base until the eighth inning, when Harper stepped in and walloped a towering two-run homer 432 feet to center field to knot up the game.<\/p>\n
United States Bryce Harper throws his bat after hitting a home run during the eighth inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. AP<\/p>\n
Mets youngster Nolan McLean pitched well but couldn\u2019t keep Venezuela off the board, as he yielded two runs over 4 2\/3 innings. Wilyer Abreu had the big shot, a solo homer to lead off the fifth inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt good out there, proud of the way I competed,\u201d said McLean, who graded his start a seven out of 10. \u201cStuff felt great, filling up the zone, tried to control everything I could.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he felt proud to don the red, white and blue. <\/p>\n
Eugenio Su\u00e1rez #7 of Team Venezuela reacts after hitting an RBI double against Team United States during the ninth inning at loanDepot park on March 17, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very rare you get that feeling and that pride,\u201d McLean said. \u201cBeing able to do that for your country is just special.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. bullpen then kept Venezuela in check until the ninth, when Whitlock crumbled, allowing his first run of the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always fired up for the Yankees, but I\u2019m still pissed about this,\u201d Judge said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the next time we get a chance to put on the red, white & blue and take care of business\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel Palencia shut down the Americans in the ninth, and Venezuela claimed its first WBC crown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play with passion, with love, because we feel the jersey,\u201d Su\u00e1rez added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dream team had a nightmare ending. And even Bryce Harper\u2019s late-inning heroics were not enough. The United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10094,57627,20,9,11,10,35582,1558,319,40308,40723],"class_list":["post-167092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-aaron-judge","tag-bryce-harper","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nolan-mclean","tag-ny-sports-minute","tag-sports","tag-team-usa","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}