Spirited Venezuela rallies in 9th to upend USA for 1st Classic championship

MIAMI – Eugenio Suárez flung his head back and looked up into the rafters. The sound bouncing off loanDepot park’s steel roof washed over the Venezuelan designated hitter as he held out his arms and motioned for more.

More noise. More love. More joy.

Suárez’s RBI double in the top of the ninth gave Venezuela the go-ahead run in an electric 3-2 triumph over the titanic Team USA in the World Baseball Classic championship game Tuesday night. It was an emphatic exclamation mark on Venezuela’s first title in this tournament, a fitting representation of what this nation means to baseball and vice versa.

On a night in which every out was ecstasy and every run an eruption, Eduardo Rodriguez tamed one of the greatest lineups ever assembled, while the Venezuela players brought the energy, Wilyer Abreu’s huge fifth-inning blast brought the power, Suárez’s clutch double brought the final edge, and the strong Venezuelan contingent within a boisterous crowd of 36,490 brought the volume.

The fans proudly waving their yellow, blue and red flags had plenty to celebrate, plenty of reason to dance in the aisles. Though the game was perpetually close, Venezuela was in control most of the night, save for when Bryce Harper shook Team USA out of its flat funk at the plate with a mammoth, game-tying two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth.

Ultimately, that late comeback by the Americans only further fueled the emotion of the moment for Venezuela, which quickly put together that ninth-inning run against reliever Garrett Whitlock with Luis Arraez’s leadoff walk and Suárez’s line drive that found grass deep in left-center field.

That clutch knock from Suárez wrestled back control for a Venezuela team that had it early and often.

Salvador Perez, the heart and soul of the Venezuelan WBC team he has played for in each tournament since 2013, looped a leadoff single in the third and, one out later, Ronald Acuña Jr. drew a walk. A wild pitch from Nolan McLean left both runners in scoring position, and Venezuela capitalized with Maikel Garcia’s sacrifice fly that made it 1-0.

Later, in the fifth, it was Abreu, whose massive three-run home run was the highlight of the Venezuelan win that eliminated defending champion Japan from this tournament. This time, McLean left a fastball over the middle, and Abreu launched it 414 feet over the center-field fence to give his team the 2-0 edge.

Venezuela came into this final with the distinct disadvantage of playing back-to-backs, especially after needing 23 outs from the bullpen to get past Italy in the semifinals. And though Rodriguez has had great successes in the big leagues, his more recent track record – including not only an ERA north of 5 over the last two seasons with the Diamondbacks but a struggle of a start against the Dominican Republic earlier in this tournament – made for an iffy matchup.

And yet, E-Rod was incredible on this night, taming the U.S. bats for 4 ⅓ innings in which he allowed just one hit and one walk. He then handed it off to the bullpen, which, much like a night earlier, was efficient in its execution. When José Buttó got Team USA captain Aaron Judge to roll over on a slider to strand a runner in the sixth, his Venezuelan teammates leaped out of the dugout to applaud the enormous out.

But as flat as it has looked at times in this tournament and in its first three trips to the plate in this one, Team USA’s All-Star-laden lineup finally showed some life with two away in the eighth. With Andrés Machado on the mound, Bobby Witt Jr. drew a walk. And after taking a first-pitch changeup for a ball, Harper swung hard at the next one and then flung his bat in the air as the long fly ball cleared the center-field wall. The Americans in the stands were sent into hysterics, and the game was tied at 2.

Just not for long.

Once again, in the ninth, it was the jubilance of Team Venezuela that carried and, ultimately, won the night.

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Maikel Garcia bursts onto world stage with Classic MVP Award

With a breakout season for the Royals last year, Maikel Garcia made his name known around MLB. Now his name is resonating on the world stage.

The 26-year-old infielder was named MVP of the World Baseball Classic after Venezuela defeated the tournament favorite USA with a thrilling 3-2 victory in the final on Tuesday night.

Garcia hit .385 for the Classic with a home run and seven RBIs, and he drove in the first run of the game in the final with a sac fly off USA starter Nolan McLean. He also had a key hit in Venezuela’s decisive three-run rally in the seventh inning of the semifinals against Team Italy.

“The place I come from, we are born with that characteristic, to be competitive every day no matter where you are playing or what you are playing,” Garcia said earlier in the tournament. “I love facing the best rivals.”

With Garcia leading the way, Venezuela took down every rival in its path on the way to a title.

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Kansas City Royals players dominated the 2026 World Baseball Classic, with Maikel Garcia leading Venezuela to the title as MVP (.400+ AVG) and Vinnie Pasquantino making history for Italy with a 3-HR game. Bobby Witt Jr. (USA) excelled defensively and on the bases, while Salvador Perez (Venezuela) and Jac Caglianone (Italy) also contributed significantly to their teams' deep runs.

Maikel Garcia (Venezuela): Named tournament MVP, finishing with a .400+ batting average and 7+ RBIs, including key hits in the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship games.

Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy): Powered Italy to the semifinals, becoming the first player in WBC history to hit three home runs in a single game.

Bobby Witt Jr. (USA): Played stellar defense at shortstop for Team USA and was a force on the base paths with multiple stolen bases and a high on-base percentage.







Jac Caglianone (Italy): Acted as a key contributor for Italy's surprising semifinal run, batting efficiently with power.

Salvador Perez (Venezuela): Provided veteran leadership for the tournament champions.

Pitchers: Luinder Avila (Venezuela) maintained a 0.00 ERA over 2 innings, while Michael Wacha (USA) struggled in a short outing.

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I'M THINKING THAT MAYBE THE ROYALS ARE THE TEAM TO BEAT IN THE AL CENTRAL IF THEIR PITCHING CAN HOLD UP

THEY SURE HAD AN IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE THE WBC

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Venezuela beats US, 3-2, on Eugenio Suárez’s 9th-inning double to win first World Baseball Classic title

Updated: Mar. 17, 2026, 11:26 p.m.|Published: Mar. 17, 2026, 11:25 p.m.

By The Associated Press

MIAMI — Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth.

Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd. Meanwhile, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits through the seventh.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two outs in the eighth and Bryce Harper drove the second straight changeup from Andrés Machado over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that tied it. Harper slowly trotted around the bases and took time at third to salute coach Dino Ebel.

Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth. Pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw and came home when Suárez doubled to the left-center gap. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.

Daniel Palencia struck out two in a perfect bottom half to finish a three-hitter and get his third save of the WBC, striking out Roman Anthony to end the game. Venezuelans ran onto the infield to celebrate as the Americans stared while leaning on their dugout railing.

“Nobody believed in Venezuela but now we win the championship,” Suárez said. “This is a celebration for all the Venezuelan country.”

Despite a heralded roster of stars led by Aaron Judge, Harper and Paul Skenes, the U.S. lost its second straight final of baseball’s premier international event and remained without a title since 2017.

Judge was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the championship game and hit .222 with five RBIs in the tournament, while Harper batted .214 with three RBIs and Alex Bregman .143 with four RBIs. The U.S. scored nine runs in the three knockout-round games while batting .188.

Ahead of a matchup with political overtones, players and coaches avoided discussing the government turmoil between the nations, heightened when the U.S. military captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in January. The sellout crowd of 36,190 at loanDepot park was heavily pro-Venezuela, with some booing American players during the introductions.

Venezuela became the second Latin American nation to win the WBC, after the Dominican Republic in 2013. The U.S. took the title in 2017 and lost the 2023 final to three-time champion Japan on this same field.

While the U.S., Japan and the Dominican Republic got much of the attention ahead of the sixth edition of the 20-nation event, Venezuela’s success was not that surprising. Sixty-three players born in Venezuela appeared on Major League Baseball opening-day rosters last year, second-most from outside the U.S. behind the Dominican Republic’s 100.

Venezuela went ahead in the third inning against McLean, getting the start because Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers decided the two-time Cy Young Award winner would make only a first-round appearance.

Salvador Perez sliced a first-pitch single and Ronald Acuña Jr. walked with one out. The runners advanced when McLean bounced a curveball, and Garcia followed with a sac fly to center.

Abreu doubled the lead when he drove a fastball 414 feet to center. His helmet fell off when he rounded second and he hopped in excitement as he neared the plate, where he was greeted by a line of teammates.

Rodriguez allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings before Venezuela turned to its bullpen.

U.S. players had arrived at loanDepot park in game-worn U.S. Olympic hockey jerseys coordinated by outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jack Hughes, who scored the gold medal-winning goal against Canada last month.

In a darkened ballpark filled by fans wearing wristbands with festive blinking lights, Judge and Arraez led the teams down the foul lines for the introductions while carrying their nation’s flags.

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Guardians

Was Venezuela’s WBC win baseball’s ‘Miracle on Ice’?

Updated: Mar. 18, 2026, 11:32 a.m.|Published: Mar. 18, 2026, 11:31 a.m.

By Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Forget the score for a moment. Forget the lineups and the pitch counts and the spring training caveats. What happened when Venezuela knocked off a star-studded Team USA to win the World Baseball Classic championship was something that transcended box scores — and the latest episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast made absolutely sure you understood why.

The final was 3-2. Eugenio Suarez delivered the dagger with a late RBI double. Bryce Harper gave the Americans a brief, electric lifeline with a tie-breaking home run in the eighth. And then — just like that — Venezuela finished the job in the ninth. Eduardo Rodriguez, the crafty left-hander, was brilliant on the mound. Team USA, assembled from a dream-lineup of the sport’s biggest names, never got its powerful offense untracked.

In the aftermath, beat reporters Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast asked the question nobody could sidestep: was this baseball’s Miracle on Ice?

Noga didn’t shy away from the comparison — or from acknowledging what it meant far beyond the diamond

“To see the passion and the joy and what it meant to those players and to that country to win that championship, it’s definitely the biggest sports moment in the history of Venezuela,” Noga said. “You’ve got to consider it that.”

The biggest sports moment in the history of Venezuela. That’s not hyperbole carelessly tossed into a conversation. That’s a statement that lands with full, devastating weight when you consider what’s happening in that country right now — the economic devastation, the political turmoil, the daily survival that millions of Venezuelans face. A group of their countrymen walked onto an international stage and beat the most powerful baseball nation on the planet. In that context, this championship carries an emotional charge that goes far beyond sport.

Noga pushed the Miracle on Ice comparison further, wrestling with whether the David vs. Goliath framework truly applied

“Were the Americans the big bad Russian hockey team there in this equation?” Noga asked. “Were the Venezuelans ragtag bunch? You know, there’s plenty of major leaguers on that Venezuelan roster that contributed, but for them to come together and knock off the United States, who had to have been the more heavily favored team, I gotta believe that the David and Goliath theme fits.” — Joe Noga, Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast

The argument holds. Venezuela’s roster was stocked with major leaguers — this wasn’t a true amateur underdog story. But Team USA wasn’t just a collection of baseball players either. They were an assembled juggernaut, a national brand, a lineup that reads like an All-Star ballot filled out by unanimous vote. They showed up with the weight of expectation, the resources of the richest baseball infrastructure in the world — and as Hoynes pointed out, something unmistakably symbolic.

Political. Charged. Gold medal jerseys as a deliberate statement. It wasn’t subtle, and it wasn’t meant to be. The United States arrived projecting dominance, a reminder of a championship already claimed. Venezuela arrived with something else entirely — pride, unity, and the weight of an entire struggling nation on their backs. That asymmetry of motivation is precisely what makes the upset so resonant.

Hoynes also noted that Venezuela faced arguably the tougher bracket road, playing back-to-back games in the semifinals and championship — a gauntlet that tested their pitching depth to the absolute limit. None of it slowed them down.

There are legitimate nuances to the Miracle on Ice comparison. The 1980 US hockey team was built from amateur college players facing a professional Soviet machine — that purity of amateurism doesn’t exist here. And Hoynes reasonably noted that spring training timing affects even elite players, which may partially explain Team USA’s offensive struggles. Both points are fair.

But none of those caveats diminish what Venezuela accomplished. A nation navigating genuine hardship watched its players step onto that field and beat the world’s most powerful baseball country in the biggest game the sport offers outside the World Series. That means something profound. The passion of that Venezuelan dugout, the tears, the unbridled celebration — that was not spring training emotion. That was history being made in real time.

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News

World Baseball Classic television audience doubles for 2026 tournament

The Associated Press

March 19, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — in the World Baseball Classic championship game was seen by 10,784,000 viewers on Fox and Fox Deportes, nearly double the 5.4 million who watched on FS1, Fox Deportes and the network’s streaming service.

Tuesday night’s game drew an average of 10,228,000 viewers on Fox, the network said Thursday. That was more than double the 4.48 million on FS1 for Japan’s 3-2 victory in 2023 and higher than each of the first four games of the 2023 World Series between Texas and San Francisco.

The averaged 1,294,000 for its games on Fox, FS1 and FS2, double the 506,000 for the 2023 tournament.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic set a new total attendance record of 1,619,839 fans over 47 games, a 24% increase from the 2023 tournament. The tournament featured record-breaking crowds in Tokyo (365,272) and a record-high for a U.S. pool in Houston (350,365), marking the most successful event in its 20-year history.

Final 2026 World Baseball Classic Numbers Show Massive Revenue Windfall

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Final 2026 World Baseball Classic Numbers Show Massive Revenue Windfall

The 2026 World Baseball Classic hit a massive home run by nearly every measure. It smashed attendance, viewership, sponsorship, and expanded business opportunities. Here’s how the numbers show a massive jump in revenues, now, and certainly in the future when the tournament returns.

Rob Manfred and Bruce Meyer couldn’t be happier about the WBC. The MLB commissioner and the interim executive director of the MLB Players Association are the partners in the tournament that feels like a cross between the Olympics and MLB playoff baseball. As the numbers show, at a time when MLB is just starting to feel the warmth of upcoming Opening Day games, baseball was more than relevant.

It owned the sports landscape in March – a feat it rarely sees. From a new streaming deal with Netflix, an increase in sponsors, the broadcast deal with FOX, and an increase in attendance, the drama-filled tournament smashed the previous revenue figures from 2023.

While final numbers are not yet in, one early estimate placed revenues in the $225-$230 million range, an increase of approximately 130% from the $100 million in 2023 WBC. And it’s possible that the figure will be larger once fully calculated.

Major League Baseball declined to comment.

Growth In Attendance

To start, the World Baseball Classic set a new attendance record with a total of 1,619,839, topping the previous record of 1,306,414 in 2023, an increase of +24%. The 2026 tournament recorded the most-attended pool in history, with games in Tokyo accounting for 365,272 in attendance. This year’s WBC also saw the most-attended U.S. pool in history, with games in Houston drawing 350,365.

WBC A Home Run On Television
For television, the 2026 WBC crushed it.

The 2026 WBC averaged 1,294,000 viewers across FOX, FS1, and FS2, making it the most-watched WBC in its 20-year history across English-language networks. The 2026 average viewership across the FOX Sports family of networks was up +156% from the 2023 tournament average (506,000).

Compared to other sports, the WBC performed +1% better than NBC’s Primetime coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics (10,133,000 viewers, which includes the opening and closing ceremonies) and +52% better than the 2026 NBA All-Star Game (6.734,000 viewers). It stood up well against deciding games, as well.

2026 World Baseball Classic Championship: Team Venezuela v Team USA
The 2026 World Baseball Classic was a massive hit. (Photo by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Compared to top series play, the 2025 World Series averaged 10.8 million viewers in the U.S. The NBA Finals averaged 10.2 million in 2022.

Four of the top five and six of the top nine most-viewed games in the U.S. in the history of the World Baseball Classic were set during the 2026 tournament.

10,784,000 viewers watched on FOX & FOX Deportes as Venezuela won the 2026 World Baseball Classic 3-2 over Team USA on Tuesday night, making it the most-watched WBC telecast ever on any network. The championship game was up +128% vs. 2023’s USA-Japan WBC Final on FS1 (4,480,000). To place the championship game in perspective, it was the most-watched Tuesday on FOX since Game 4 of the 2025 World Series.

And the WBC dominated ratings. While the week has not finished to show where the championship game landed (most assuredly at #1), for Nielsen's Top 25 sporting event telecasts for the week of March 9 - March 15, the WBC on FOX and FS1 secured 6 spots.

Overall, the #1-ranked live sports event for that week was FS1’s coverage of USA vs Dominican Republic with 6.86 million viewers on Sunday, March 15. The additional 5 include:

#2 - USA vs. Mexico - 4.7 million viewers (FOX)

#5 - USA vs. Canada - 4.2 million viewers (FOX)

#10 - Venezuela vs. Japan - 2.8 million viewers (FOX)

#20 - USA vs. Italy - 1.9 million viewers (FS1)

#24 - Italy vs. Mexico - 1.67 million viewers (FS1)

As far as international viewing is concerned, this year setup a new $100 million streaming deal with Netflix to exclusively stream games in Japan.

Social Media

In terms of social media, the 2026 WBC broke records, as well.

Shohei Ohtani’s grand slam against Chinese Taipei was the most engaged post in @MLB’s history on X/Twitter.

Social media posts during the tournament from MLB, MLB Español, and the World Baseball Classic accounts generated more than 2.24 billion global views across platforms through the Semifinals.

Sponsorship Growth

The 2026 World Baseball Classic saw 150 business partners. Nearly 70 companies signed on as corporate partners this year with nine major brands committed to global sponsorships of the 2026 tournament: Japanese industrial and engineering corporation IHI; Japanese green tea distributor and manufacturer Ito En; Japan Airlines, one of the leading airline companies in Asia; global video game publisher KONAMI; Kowa, a multi-national pharmaceutical company focused on pain relief and health drinks; Japan’s largest banking group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG); American footwear brand New Balance; Seiko, a Japanese timepiece maker; and bedding and recovery wear manufacturer Tential.

Thirty consumer product companies created a multitude of licensed products and experiences for the World Baseball Classic, including brands like Baseball Lifestyle 101, Born x Raised, Franklin Sports, Highland Mint, Marucci/Victus, Rawlings, Topps and UNDEFEATED.

Below outlines the media, sponsorship, consumer products, and video game partners involved in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, highlighting regional and global collaborations.

Media Partners The event's broadcasting rights span multiple regions, with key partners including Fox Sports, Sportsnet, TVA Sports, ESPN, and TelevisaUnivision in the Americas; Netflix, CJ ENM, KBS, SBS, MBC, and local broadcasters in Asia; ESPN and local sports channels in Oceania and Europe; and beIN Sport, Sky Italia, SportDigital+, and others across Europe and MENA. Worldwide coverage includes in-flight and on-ship broadcasts via Sport 24, with radio partners like SiriusXM and JOLF Radio. ​

Sponsors Global sponsors include Japan Airlines, IHI, ITO-EN, KOWA, MUFG, SEIKO, and TENTIAL. ​Hospitality partners feature JTB/STH, Capital One, and DIP. ​ Venue partners include Budweiser, Corona, and others in the US, Japan, and Puerto Rico. ​ Numerous regional and local partners support the event, including financial institutions, beverage companies, and local service providers.

Federation and Venue Partners ​ Financial institutions such as Banco BHD, Caja de Ahorros, and local entities like Discover Puerto Rico and Orlando Health support the event. Several companies provide venue and promotional support across participating regions.

Consumer Products Worldwide licensing and merchandise partners include Franklin Sports, Fanatics, Mizuno, Nike, Rawlings, Topps, and Wincraft, among others, with exclusions applying in some cases.

Video Games Global partnerships include Sony's MLB The Show ‘26, Com2uS' series (9 Innings, Rivals, Out of the Park Baseball ‘27, KBO Pro Baseball V), and KONAMI's titles (MLB Pro Spirit, eBaseball series, Powerful Pro Baseball). ​ These collaborations ensure broad digital engagement with the tournament.

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