MIAMI — Venezuela won its first World Baseball Classic title on Tuesday, as Eugenio Suarez snapped a tie with in RBI double in the top of the ninth inning to give his team a 3-2 victory against a star-studded Team USA squad.
Strong pitching by Venezuela held Team USA to three hits. It was the Americans’ second straight loss in the WBC final after winning it all in 2017, The Athletic reported. Team USA dropped the 2023 final to Japan.
Maikel Garcia won MVP honors for baseball’s premier international event. While he was quiet during the tournament final, the 2025 All-Star’s two-run homer in the quarterfinals and a go-ahead hit against Italy in the semifinals helped Venezuela reach the final.
The WBC Champs Venezuela take the stage! 🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/JnJUmzIFhh
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 18, 2026
“It means everything, you know … Everything that we went through to get here, to get to this moment,“ pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez said after the game. “This is just for our country. To every one of them that helped us by just pushing us, helping us to get over here.”
Team USA’s Bryce Harper had tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-run home run at LoanDepot Park in Miami. That snapped a drought for the Americans, who had been held scoreless in 17 0f their last 18 innings, The Athletic reported.
“What a moment,” Harper said after the game. “Obviously, I love the opportunity, I love the chance, super grateful for it. I thought if we tied it up right there, we had a really good chance to win that game. But Venezuela and their pitching was great today.”
Venezuela’s dominant pitching began with left-hander Rodriguez, who allowed one hit over 4 1/3 innings. He was followed by four relievers, with Chicago Cubs closer Daniel Palencia, who shut down Team USA in the bottom of the ninth after Venezuela had regained the lead.
Kyle Schwarber struck out, Gunnar Henderson popped out and Roman Anthony struck out to end the contest.
“I’m not going to make any excuses for us,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “I think at the end of the day ... it’s early in spring training. Guys are getting ready for the season. Eventually I think the tournament gets moved and I think the guys are in better form pitching-wise.
“But ultimately it’s who gets hot at the right time, who gets a big swing.”
Venezuela’s Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock to open the ninth inning and pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second. Suárez followed with his go-ahead double, only his fourth hit in the tournament.
“Our country right now, they’re going to celebrate for about a week. This is for our country,” Omar Lopez said. “When you have good people behind you like Johan Santana, Robinson Chirinos, all the scouts, there’s a lot of good people. All the coaches, last night after the game, we went back to our floor and started to study USA until almost 3 o’clock in the morning, and that was to win tonight and we did it! I couldn’t have done it without these people behind me.”
© 2025 Cox Media Group
