Venezuela is the deserving champion of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. It was Venezuela’s first-ever title. But the winner was the sport of baseball and all of its fans all over the world.
Eugenio Suárez doubled in a run in the top of the ninth and Daniel Palencia shut the door in the bottom of the ninth as Venezuela won the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a 3-2 team against Team USA.
For seven innings, this game looked like a rather lackluster Venezuelan win. Venezuela took a 1-0
lead off of Mets rookie Nolan McLean in the third inning after Jackson Chourio singled, Ronald Acuńa Jr. walked, a wild pitch sent the runners to second and third and Maikel Garcia plated Chourio with a sacrifice fly. [VIDEO]
That’s how things stayed until the fifth inning, when Wilyer Abreu connected off McLean for 414-foot home run to dead center. [VIDEO]
Meanwhile, Team USA could do nothing against the unheralded Venezuelan pitching staff. Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodríguez kept the powerful American lineup in check, allowing no runs and just one hit over 4.1 innings. He struck out four and walked just one.
Venezuela manager Omar López went to Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo to finish off the fifth inning. He then got an inning out of Giants reliever José Buttó and two outs out of the Brewers’ Angel Zerpa. Through seven innings, Team USA could only manage two hits: a third-inning single by Brice Turang off of Rodríguez and a sixth inning single by Bryce Harper off of Buttó.
Orix Buffaloes pitcher Andrés Machado had been nails throughout the tournament and López turned to him to get the final out of the seventh. He stayed in the game to pitch the eighth and struck out Turang and got Pete Crow-Armstrong to ground out. But a walk to Bobby Witt Jr. brought Bryce Harper to the plate as the tying run.
Harper crushed one 432 feet to tie the game 2-2. [VIDEO]
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa summoned Garrett Whitlock to pitch the top of the ninth. It wasn’t clear whether or not DeRosa had permission to use Mason Miller in that situation. Whitlock walked Luis Arraez to start the inning and López had Javier Sanoja of the Marlins pinch run.
Sanoja promptly stole second base. [VIDEO]
The play was definitely close and Team USA challenged the call because “use it or lose it,” but Sanoja was ruled safe.
That brought up Eugenio Suárez, who doubled home Sanjoa for a 3-2 lead. [VIDEO]
Does Sanoja score from first on that hit if he didn’t steal second? We’ll never know.
Whitlock got one more out before giving way to Tyler Rogers, who got out of the inning with no further runs scoring.
That brought on Daniel Palencia to get the final three outs. Palencia struck out Kyle Schwarber, got Gunnar Henderson to pop out and then struck out Roman Anthony to end the game.
Here’s all three outs and the celebration. [VIDEO]
Maikel Garcia was named tournament MVP after hitting .385/.393/.577 with one home run and seven RBI over seven games.
No matter which team you were cheering for, it’s a good thing for the tournament and the sport that the last four World Baseball Classics have been won by four different nations. It was also a great tournament for all the storylines beyond Venezuela. The unbelievable run of Italy and the way they were embraced on both sides of the Atlantic. Korea making it to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009. Two walkoff home runs in one day in pool play. Technically three if count ones that triggered the mercy rule. I’m sure there were other great moments that I’ve forgotten.
Until next time (2029?), thanks for reading.
