Venezuela outlasted the United States in a pitching duel, with Eugenio Suárez hitting the tournament-winning RBI double in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory Tuesday night in Miami to win the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Venezuela, which clinched a berth to the 2028 Summer Olympics by reaching the WBC semifinals, won its first World Baseball Classic by winning six of its seven games.
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Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing only a single and a walk. Team USA remained scoreless until Bryce Harper hit a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth.
Team USA has scored just two points in each of its last two games. This brought them to the brink of winning the tournament thanks to their own strong pitching, limiting the powerful Dominican Republic squad to just one point on Sunday. They allowed just three runs Tuesday, including two against New York Mets starter Nolan McLean.
Wilyer Abreu scored in the fifth for Venezuela. Cubs closer Daniel Palencia closed out Venezuela’s victory with a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.
Will Smith started for the second straight game at catcher for the United States, but was 0 for 3 with one strikeout in the title game.
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During the tournament, Smith played in four of seven matches, including catching in the semifinal and championship match. He had three hits in 13 at-bats, including a double, an RBI and two walks, hitting .231/.313/.308.
How All the Dodgers Did During the WBC
Shohei Ohtani has homered in three of his four games, tied for the most in the WBC with Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy), Junior Caminero (Dominican Republic) and Jarren Duran (Mexico). Ohtani had six hits in 13 at-bats with a double and five walks, hitting .462/.611/1.231 with seven RBIs and six runs scored.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched two games and allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and four walks, with a 2.70 ERA. He won the first match of the Japanese tournament and received no decision. in the quarter-final defeat against Venezuela.
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Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless inning in each of his three appearances for Puerto Rico, including a save on March 9 against the Cubs. Díaz struck out seven, walked one, hit a batter and allowed one hit.
Hyeseong Kim hit a two-run homer in the pool game for Korea, but it was his only hit in 12 at-bats during the tournament. He also walked twice, stole a base, scored two runs and drove in three, hitting .083/.214/.333 in four games.
Minor league third baseman Jake Gelof had two hits in 11 at-bats in four games for Israel in pool play, with a double and a walk, hitting .182/.250/.273 with three RBIs and a run scored.
