Venezuela outlasted the United States in a pitching duel, with Eugenio Suárez providing 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 in the 2028 Summer Olympics by reaching the WBC semifinals, wins its first World Baseball Classic by winning six of its seven games.
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Eduardo Rodriguez, the Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing only a single and walk. Team USA remained scoreless until Bryce Harper hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the eighth.
Team USA only scored two runs in each of its final two games. That got them to the precipice of winning the tournament thanks to strong pitching of their own, holding the mighty Dominican Republic lineup on Sunday to just one run. They only allowed three runs on Tuesday, two of them off New York Mets starter Nolan McLean.
Wilyer Abreu homered in the fifth for Venezuela. Cubs closer Daniel Palencia closed out the win for Venezuela 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 a strikeout in the title game.
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Smith during the tournament played in four of seven games, including catching in both the semifinal and championship game. He had three hits in 13 at-bats, including a double, RBI, and two walks, hitting .231/.313/.308.
How all Dodgers did during the WBC
Shohei Ohtani homered in three of his four games, tying for most in the WBC along 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 RBI and six runs scored.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in two games and allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and four walks, with a 2.70 ERA. He won Japan’s tournament opener, and got a no-decision in the quarterfinal loss to 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 Cubs. Díaz struck out seven, walked one, hit a batter, and allowed one hit.
Hyeseong Kim hit a two-run home run during pool play for Korea, but that 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 during pool play, with a double and walk, hitting .182/.250/.273 with three RBI and one run scored.
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