Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season<\/a>]<\/p>\nTwo superstars with leadoff HRs in Venezuela-Japan<\/p>\n
Venezuela had good vibes flowing from the second pitch of the game, when superstar Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. crushed a leadoff homer off reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.<\/p>\n
Naturally, Shohei Ohtani had to respond.<\/p>\n
That sequence proved to be a tone-setter. Venezuela took another lead with back-to-back doubles by Ezequiel Tovar and Gleyber Torres in the second inning, and Japan hit back in the third inning when Shota Morishita \u2014 in the game only due to a first-inning injury to Seiya Suzuki \u2014 crushed a three-run homer to take a 5-2 lead.<\/p>\n
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With Yamamoto still on the mound and a strong bullpen behind him, it should have been advantage Japan.<\/p>\n
Wilyer Abreu the hero for Venezuela<\/p>\n
The Venezuela comeback began once Yamamoto, who recovered from some early shakiness, exited the game after four innings.<\/p>\n
Maikel Garcia, Acu\u00f1a\u2019s cousin, narrowed the deficit with a two-run homer in the fifth. Wilyer Abreu then ignited the entire stadium with a three-run homer in the sixth at the expense of Hiromi Itoh, the reigning winner of the Sawamura Award, Japan\u2019s equivalent of the Cy Young Award.<\/p>\n
The emotions coming out of the dugout and batter\u2019s box as soon as ball left bat were a good reminder of how much the WBC matters to these players.<\/p>\n
And while Venezuela\u2019s lineup of MLB All-Stars was humming, its bullpen proved to be very effective behind starting pitcher Ranger Suarez, who allowed every Japan run. The relief unit put down 13 straight Japan batters at one point and kept the game from becoming even more ridiculous.<\/p>\n
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Italy took a big lead and then held on<\/p>\n
Entering Saturday, the story of this tournament had been undefeated Italy, which topped Team USA for Pool B supremacy and was rewarded with a quarterfinal matchup against Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
Like they did against the United States, the Italians took a big lead early. They were up 8-2 after four innings but still faced a tall order against an experienced P.R. lineup.<\/p>\n
That lineup struck in the eighth with a four-run rally, which made the rest of the game uncomfortable for the underdog. But Team Italy held on, ensuring the WBC semifinals won\u2019t be four traditional baseball powers.<\/p>\n
The elimination is a bitter pill for Puerto Rico, which was also hoping to clinch an Olympic spot. There is now no way for them to make it to Los Angeles, after they lost in a tournament in which some of their best players were barred from playing by insurance companies.<\/p>\n
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Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest World Baseball Classic news and highlights from Saturday\u2019s quarterfinal matchups:<\/p>\n
Live coverage is over109 updates<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be Team USA vs. the Dominican Republic on Sunday and Venezuela vs. Italy on Monday to determine who plays in the WBC championship, which will be Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:18 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Ohtani is met with a 100.1 mph fastball from Palencia for strike one. He ends up flying out, and that\u2019s the ball game.<\/p>\n
Venezuela fought back against Japan, stole the momentum in the middle innings and pulls off a stunning upset to advance to the WBC semifinals. Japan\u2019s reign as WBC champion is over.<\/p>\n
What an incredible baseball game.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:15 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Kensuke Kondoh pinch hits for Kenya Wakatsuki and strikes out.<\/p>\n
Japan is down to its final out of the WBC. It\u2019s all up to Ohtani.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:13 PM PDT<\/p>\n
He will have to face Ohtani to get out of this game.<\/p>\n
Genda strikes out on a 99.8 mph fastball, and that\u2019s one down.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Acu\u00f1a strikes out, Garcia grounds into a fielder\u2019s choice, and Venezuela is down to its last out to try to tack on some more insurance.<\/p>\n
Arraez grounds out, and we\u2019re headed to the bottom of the ninth.<\/p>\n
Up next for Japan: Genda, Wakatsuki and Ohtani.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:06 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Yusei Kikuchi would\u2019ve been scheduled to start one of the final two games of this tournament. Instead, he\u2019s on the mound for the ninth inning with Japan needing to hold off Venezuela\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
Jackson Chourio singles, and the leadoff runner is aboard.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 9:02 PM PDT<\/p>\n
With two outs, Okamoto singled on a ball that Acu\u00f1a almost got to. Then Murakami singled to bring the tying run to the plate.<\/p>\n
But Machado got out of it, inducing a groundout to end the frame and preserve Venezuela\u2019s three-run lead.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:57 PM PDT<\/p>\n
The Venezuelan bullpen has shut down Japan\u2019s offense since taking over from Ranger Suarez.<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9s Machado is on the mound in the eighth and gets a strikeout and a diving catch from Jackson Chourio for the first two outs.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:48 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Ezequiel Tovar got on board with a leadoff double.<\/p>\n
Then, with Tovar on his way to third, a pickoff attempt went very wrong, with the ball caroming into center field and Tovar scampering home.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s an error on Japanese pitcher Atsuki Taneichi and an 8-5 lead for Venezuela.<\/p>\n
![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773560468_162_dims.jpeg\"\/)
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:42 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 1-2-3 inning for Zerpa. If Japan doesn\u2019t get another baserunner, Venezuela won\u2019t have to face Ohtani again.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:40 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Angel Zerpa strikes out Ohtani. Venezuela exhales.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:38 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani got strike 2 on a foul tip, but insisted there was catcher\u2019s interference, to the point of taking his elbow guard off. The call stands on review.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:35 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:32 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Atsuki Taneichi takes the mound for Japan and throws a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Shohei Ohtani is due up second for the bottom of the frame.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:26 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Butt\u00f3 keeps the sixth scoreless. On to the seventh.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Emmanuel De Jesus gets a flyout from Munetaka Murakami and that will end his night with 2 1\/3 scoreless inning. A quiet hero for Venezuela tonight after Japan\u2019s early breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Butt\u00f3 enters for Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:15 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Hiromi Itoh ends the inning with a strikeout of Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., but the damage is done. That\u2019s the 2025 Sawamura Award winner, Japan\u2019s equivalent of the Cy Young Award, that Venezuela just scored a haymaker on.<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:13 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n
Sat, March 14, 2026 at 8:13 PM PDT<\/p>\n
Jack Baer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The semifinal field of the 2026 World Baseball Classic is set. It took the best game of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[63762,10005,6801,3471,12945,5898,32036,9884,204416,37318,236342,3956,99,42270,18232,61864,72364,8963],"class_list":["post-524619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ezequiel-tovar","tag-gleyber-torres","tag-italy","tag-japan","tag-maikel-garcia","tag-puerto-rico","tag-ranger-suarez","tag-ronald-acuna-jr","tag-samurai-japan","tag-seiya-suzuki","tag-semifinal-appearance","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports","tag-team-usa","tag-venezuela","tag-wilyer-abreu","tag-world-baseball-classic","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}