Cleveland Sports Forum

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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