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LoanDepot Park (Miami) – Under the bright lights of the home of the Miami Marlins, Team Venezuela finally broke through, outlasting a fearless Italy squad to punch their ticket to the World Baseball Classic championship game against the United States.
Venezuela won, 4-2, in a thrilling come-from-behind victory on Monday night to reach the finals for the first time in the tournament’s history.
The clash between Venezuela’s star power and Italy’s Cinderella run turned into a tense and emotional battle. Italy was unbeaten entering the semifinal and quickly became one of the tournament’s biggest surprises. Ultimately, Venezuela’s depth, timely hitting and home-field advantage proved decisive.
For Venezuela, this was a statement. The baseball-obsessed nation is one step away from its first WBC title.
Here are my takeaways:
1. The most electric infield hit, ever
Trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, Venezuela clawed back and took the lead by playing small ball. Their rally started with a terrific at-bat by second baseman Gleyber Torres, who eventually worked a leadoff walk against Italy right-hander Michael Lorenzen. Torres was replaced by the speedy infielder Andres Gimenez at first. Then things looked bleak after Lorenzen delivered back-to-back strikeouts against Wilyer Abreu, who was Venezuela’s hero in their quarterfinal against Japan, and William Contreras.
This was their best opportunity yet to do some damage, and it was up to Jackson Chourio to give Venezuela life. After curiously going with a sacrifice bunt in his previous at-bat, Chourio this time laced a single to center field, bringing Ronald Acuna Jr. to the plate with runners on first and third. Acuna swung at the first pitch, sending a ground ball to shortstop Sam Antonacci, who vacuumed the ball on the grass. By the time he got on his feet and fired to first, Acuna beat the throw and tied the game at 2-2 with the most electric infield hit, ever.
The crowd’s thunderous applause seemed to intimidate Lorenzen, who would’ve been out of the game if Italy had better arms in the bullpen. Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez followed Acuna with back-to-back RBI singles, giving Venezuela a 4-2 lead and never looking back.
2. Eugenio gets the crowd going
The heavily pro-Venezuelan crowd at loanDepot Park was waiting to erupt all night. Yellow, blue and red flags were scattered around the stadium, with the Venezuelan population in the greater Miami area being one of the largest in the United States. It took four innings for Venezuela to put a run on the board, but when they finally did, the crowd went berserk.
Slugger Eugenio Suarez barreled his second home run of the tournament, connecting on an 80 mph knuckle curve from Aaron Nola and sending it to the seats in left center field. Coordinated chants broke out inside the ballpark as Venezuela tried to rally with the crowd’s support.
A few innings later, during Venezuela’s three-run seventh inning, the scene in Miami turned into complete pandemonium. The stands resembled a block party. The press box was shaking. It was the loudest the ballpark had been all tournament.
3. Italy’s pitching duo falls short
These were the best arms Italy had to offer, and they still didn’t excel enough to hold down Venezuela’s deep and dynamic lineup. Nola started the do-or-die game, hoping he could go deep enough to pass the ball to Lorenzen and Italy could espresso-shot its way to the championship game against Team USA. While Nola was solid, with his only blemish being the solo shot he allowed to Suarez, he was removed after just 59 pitches and four innings.
Next, it was up to Lorenzen to try and hold Italy’s tiny one-run lead, which meant that if the team had advanced to the final, it wouldn’t have a legitimate starter for the final on Tuesday. But that hardly mattered to Team Italy manager Francisco Cervelli. Italy had to get there first before it could worry about who would start.
Alas, Lorenzen didn’t fare as well against Venezuela’s lineup as he did against the USA in the final game of pool play in Houston. He gave up three earned runs on four hits and allowed two walks in 2 ⅔ innings pitched. Venezuela gained the lead and the momentum, as Italy’s pitching plans fell through.
4. No espresso shots
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
At the start of the WBC, Team Italy went viral for their creative idea of installing an espresso machine in the dugout. They brewed a fresh shot of espresso every time someone homered. Unfortunately for the Italians on Monday, no hitter in their lineup went yard against Venezuela’s strong pitching staff.
The only two runs they scored both came in the second inning, driven in on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI forceout. Italy’s lineup and their espresso machine suffered a power outage in the semifinal, at the worst possible time.
Italy is now 12-14 all-time in WBC play, including records of 1-2 in 2006; 1-2 in 2009; 2-3 in 2013; 1-3 in 2017; 2-3 in 2023; and 5-1 in 2026. The country gained prominence this year with an unforgettable and historic run in the tournament.
“We are no longer the Cinderella,” Cervelli said in a standing-room-only press conference after Italy’s loss. “In three years, they will take us seriously.”
4 ½. What’s next?
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will take the mound for Venezuela in the championship game on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. He will go toe-to-toe against USA right-hander Nolan McLean. Venezuela is 2-3 all-time against the United States in the WBC. USA won the coin toss and elected to be the home team against Venezuela.
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