{"id":531502,"date":"2026-03-18T20:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531502\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T20:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:56:08","slug":"world-baseball-classic-venezuela-takes-down-team-usa-in-championship-game-stunner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531502\/","title":{"rendered":"World Baseball Classic: Venezuela takes down Team USA in championship game stunner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once again, the final of the World Baseball Classic delivered a game worth remembering. This time, it was Venezuela breaking through against Team USA<\/a>, with a win bound to resonate throughout the country.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelans defeated the United States 3-2 on Tuesday in Miami, capping off a tournament that showcased baseball at its best. Tears were flowing<\/a> as soon as Venezuela closer Daniel Palencia\u2019s fastball reached the glove of Salvador Perez for the final out.<\/p>\n

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The title is Venezuela\u2019s first in six incarnations of the WBC, joining the U.S., Japan and the Dominican Republic as winners. Venezuela had to face all three in this tournament, losing to the D.R. in pool play before recovering with a comeback win over Japan in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem: Make your picks for $50K in total prizes<\/a>]\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final was a victory that took fortitude from Venezuela, which held a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning, only to lose it on an electric, game-tying home run from Bryce Harper. With a fresh ballgame and an inning to go, Venezuela regrouped.<\/p>\n

And then Eugenio Su\u00e1rez put his team back on top<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the defensive side, it took an incredible performance from a gassed Venezuela pitching staff to keep a stacked Team USA lineup under thumb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Hero performances from Venezuelan pitching staff<\/p>\n

If there was extra reason for Team USA to be confident entering the game, it was the state of Venezuela\u2019s pitchers.<\/p>\n

The starting pitcher was Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez, who holds a 5.02 ERA over the past two MLB seasons. Venezuela\u2019s bullpen had been its biggest strength of knockout play but also had to cover 7 2\/3 innings against Italy in the semifinal on Monday. Venezuela manager Omar L\u00f3pez said before the final that he woke up Tuesday to three text messages from MLB organizations telling him not to use their relievers on back-to-back nights.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear if those requests were honored, but this was clearly one way the deck was stacked for Team USA, whose bullpen was rested and largely ready to go after defeating the Dominican Republic on Sunday. Venezuela, meanwhile, had to figure out how to face a lineup in which the No. 9 hitter, Byron Buxton, was a 2025 MLB All-Star.<\/p>\n

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Rodr\u00edguez took the mound and didn\u2019t blink. Over 4 1\/3 innings, he kept the Americans off-balance and exited with only one hit allowed and one walk against four strikeouts. Two of those were at the expense of Team USA captain Aaron Judge, who finished the night 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Eduard Bazardo, Jos\u00e9 Butt\u00f3 and Angel Zerpa combined for 2 1\/3 scoreless innings after that. Then Andr\u00e9s Machado entered needing to get four outs to deliver a 2-0 lead to Palencia. That\u2019s when the hiccup in the plan arrived, as Harper punished a center-cut changeup to finally give Team USA some juice.<\/p>\n

That could have been the first blow of a thrilling comeback for the United States, but it wasn\u2019t. Machado got out of the inning, and Luis Arraez led off the ninth with a walk. He was replaced with pinch-runner Javier Sanoja, who barely pulled off a steal of second base.<\/p>\n

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Then Su\u00e1rez struck, Palencia got through the bottom of the ninth with no trouble, and the celebrations began. The Venezuelans were so dominant throughout the night that Team USA didn\u2019t have a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Venezuela was pure joy<\/p>\n

It can be so easy to disregard the WBC as an MLB-created entity designed to deliver easy-bake ratings in March and in which teams are overruled by MLB organizations on pitcher usage. But all of this so clearly matters to the players on the field and the fans behind them.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 2026 WBC, Venezuela\u2019s fans stood out as one of the loudest groups, and they were the more audible presence in the stands for a final held on U.S. soil.<\/p>\n

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It goes without saying that teams on the field want to win, but the moment was visibly washing over the Venezuelan players as they celebrated. It was clearly one of the greatest days of their lives \u2014 and that\u2019s what you play for.<\/p>\n

Salvador Perez said after the game, \u201cNow I feel like I can retire.\u201d<\/a> The longtime Kansas City Royals catcher wasn\u2019t on the field when his team won the 2015 World Series, having been replaced for a pinch-runner, but he was behind the plate for this achievement.<\/p>\n

USA-Venezuela has meaning beyond baseball<\/p>\n

It is also a victory with an unavoidable political side. President Donald Trump poked Venezuela about the country becoming the 51st state via social media<\/a> after its win over Italy on Monday and appeared to do so again<\/a> immediately after the final pitch Tuesday. Su\u00e1rez, the hero of the night, had his United States citizenship application canceled in December by Trump\u2019s administration.<\/a> And the game was held only a couple of months after the U.S. government removed Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from the country.<\/p>\n

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As much as these things can go unsaid in the world of baseball, it\u2019s difficult to imagine that context wasn’t on the minds of many Venezuelans entering Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for news, updates and highlights from the World Baseball Classic final.<\/p>\n

Live coverage is over74 updates<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:02 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:43 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:33 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:32 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Maikel Garcia is the World Baseball Classic MVP.<\/p>\n

He finished the tournament with 10 hits, including 1 home run, 7 RBI and 3 stolen bases.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:11 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 8:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:55 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Roman Anthony strikes out, and Venezuela wins the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

Palencia finishes the job and tosses his glove to the sky, having shut down the USA bats to seal his country\u2019s first tournament title.<\/p>\n

Team USA\u2019s offense was nearly absent in this game, aside from Bryce Harper\u2019s home run, and the Americans will head back to spring training with a lot of regrets and what-ifs.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:53 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Gunnar Henderson pops out, and Team USA is down to its very last out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be up to Roman Anthony.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:51 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Daniel Palencia is on the mound to close this out for Venezuela.<\/p>\n

He gets Schwarber swinging for out No. 1.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:51 PM PDT<\/p>\n

After an intentional walk to Abreu, Salvador Perez flies out.<\/p>\n

On to the bottom of the ninth. Schwarber is up first.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:45 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Gimenez flies out, and the USA goes to Tyler Rogers.<\/p>\n

He gets Tovar to pop out, and Geno is almost doubled off second, but he makes it back just in time. Two outs.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:38 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Geno Suarez delivers a double to left field, and just like that, Venezuela retakes the lead.<\/p>\n

Whitlock left a changeup over the middle of the plate, and Suarez did not miss.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:36 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Luis Arraez draws a leadoff walk for Venezuela. Pinch runner Javier Sanoja replaces him and swiftly steals second. Will Smith\u2019s throw to the bag is not in time.<\/p>\n

The USA challenges the call, but the ruling on the field stands. The go-ahead run is in scoring position with nobody out and Geno Suarez up next.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:31 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Garrett Whitlock gets the ball next for Team USA, now working to preserve a tie.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:28 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Aaron Judge strikes out for the third time tonight, and that\u2019s the end of the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

This is a brand-new ballgame headed to the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Bryce Harper ties the WBC final with one big swing, sending a 93-mph changeup right over the middle of the plate straight out to center field.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s two runs, and this game is tied.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:23 PM PDT<\/p>\n

That\u2019s three consecutive innings with a 2-out baserunner for Team USA.<\/p>\n

Bobby Witt Jr. draws a walk after Turang strikes out and PCA grounds out. Harper is up.<\/p>\n

Tue, March 17, 2026 at 7:18 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a grounds out, Garcia pops out, and it\u2019s the Americans\u2019 turn again to try to muster some offense.<\/p>\n

\"JackTue, March 17, 2026 at 7:18 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n

A quick 1-2-3 inning for Griffin Jax and it\u2019s still 2-0 Venezuela going into the bottom of the eighth.<\/p>\n

\"JackTue, March 17, 2026 at 7:15 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Jack Baer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once again, the final of the World Baseball Classic delivered a game worth remembering. This time, it was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[4260,173615,7845,37773,9883,29385,102208,78574,13665,98628,2321,59685,2821,115095,363,9884,25928,99,42270,237555,18232,72364],"class_list":["post-531502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aaron-judge","tag-angel-zerpa","tag-bryce-harper","tag-butto","tag-byron-buxton","tag-daniel-palencia","tag-eduard-bazardo","tag-eduardo-rodriguez","tag-eugenio-suarez","tag-javier-sanoja","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-luis-arraez","tag-miami","tag-miguel-cabrera","tag-mlb","tag-ronald-acuna-jr","tag-salvador-perez","tag-sports","tag-team-usa","tag-team-venezuela","tag-venezuela","tag-world-baseball-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531502","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=531502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}