Venezuela is officially a baseball powerhouse after they defeated Team USA 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic Championship. Everyone should’ve known how legit they were after defeating the reigning champion Japan team led by Shohei Ohtani. The vibrant energy that they play with and the adrenaline that is pumping through their bodies is unreal.
Every time you mention Venezuela, the first person who has to come up is Eduardo Rodriguez. What a phenomenal performance for him against such an elite Team USA lineup. Rodriguez went 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball on one hit from Brice Turang. When Rodriguez’s country needed him the most, he dominated as he only gave up 1 hit, and his accuracy was outstanding.
Rodriguez has struggled the past 2 seasons in the major leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but in the biggest game of his life, he came through while making Team USA look silly.
Venezuela’s pitching staff as a whole was stout, and it’s even more impressive that they were coming off a back-to-back after defeating Italy the night prior. Relievers Eduard Bazardo, Jose Butto, Angel Zerpa, Andres Machado, and Daniel Palencia combined to throw 4 2/3 innings and only surrendered 2 runs.
Offensively, Venezuela did enough with an early sacrifice fly courtesy of WBC MVP Maikel Garcia. The next run they would score was a dead-center home run off the bat of right fielder Wilyer Abreu, who also had a major go-ahead home run vs Japan 2 games ago.
Eugenio Suarez then worked a full count against Garrett Whitlock and sent a changeup into the gaps to score Javier Sanoja, who was able to steal second base prior. The energy after that Suarez double was insane. Even as a Team USA fan, you have to appreciate the passion they play with; it means so much more to play for their country.
Team USA never even had a runner all game reach second base, meaning they had no runners in scoring position opportunities. Which is absolutely absurd as you look up and down this lineup and see the accolades and the back of the baseball card that each of these players possesses.
When Venezuela got into trouble, it got out of it when it mattered most. They play for each other; this is a real bond and brotherhood, and they deserve to win at the end of the day.
Most of the game was a carbon copy of the Team USA vs. Dominican Republic game. The USA’s offense struggled to score; the lead wasn’t insurmountable, and you were waiting for the big hit to happen. At least with that game, they were able to get runners on, draw walks, and have multiple RISP opportunities.
This time around, there were minimal base runners as they only combined to get 3 hits and 3 walks all game. All of the blame for this game should be placed on the offense after such a pitiful performance.
Team USA’s first hit and base runner of the game came in the 3rd inning with a Turang single, followed by a Byron Buxton strikeout and Bobby Witt Jr. groundout. The next baserunner was a Kyle Schwarber walk in the 4th inning, and then Alex Bregman grounded out on 5 pitches. Bryce Harper hit a single in the 6th inning off Butto, Aaron Judge worked a full count but ultimately ended up grounding out to third base to end the inning.
Nolan McLean did his job, 2 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in the biggest game of his life was nothing to scoff at whatsoever. The off-speed pitches were absolutely disgusting, but one of his only mistakes of the game was costly as Abreu sent it to dead center for a homer.
After a Roman Anthony walk in the bottom of the 7th inning, I was screaming for Cal Raleigh to pinch hit for Will Smith, but he didn’t, and the inning ended after a foul out on 3 pitches. Raleigh had been struggling all WBC with zero hits and had gotten warranted slander, but this was the moment to insert the guy coming off a 60 home run season. Team USA’s manager Mark DeRosa declined that move, which was very disheartening, as one swing of the bat could’ve changed the trajectory of the game.
Bobby Witt Jr. then drew a 2-out walk in the bottom of the 8th inning, and Harper finally woke up with a massive 2-run home run to tie the game with their backs against the wall off Machado. You could see how much that meant to him; the crowd was roaring, and the entire team was incredibly hyped up. This was the moment we’ve been waiting for. Harper’s struggled all tournament and was the definition of due, the exact reason why Raleigh should’ve been in as well.
The roof of the building would’ve fallen off if Aaron Judge had hit back-to-back homers, but instead, he struck out looking for his 3rd strikeout of the game in 4 at-bats.
Whitlock then entered the 9th inning, pitching for the third time in five days, and gave up a leadoff walk to Luis Arraez. Suarez comes through with an RBI double in the biggest at-bat of his life when his country needed him the most. Whitlock then got Andrés Giménez to fly out and was replaced on the mound by the submariner Tyler Rogers. Who got Ezequiel Tovar to pop out, intentionally walked Abreu, and got Salvador Perez to fly out with first and second base to end the top half of the 9th inning.
The bottom of the 9th inning rolls around with Team USA needing one run to tie the game up. Chicago Cubs closer Palencia comes into the game, pitching on a back-to-back in the only situation that his team would’ve allowed him to pitch.
Kyle Schwarber worked a 5 pitch at-bat but got overpowered and struck out for the third time of the night. Gunnar Henderson pinch hits for Bregman, and Palencia gets him to pop out to third base after 2 pitches.
The game is now on the shoulders of 21-year-old Roman Anthony, who’s destined for greatness, had some massive hits this tournament, and now has the game on his shoulders. Anthony takes the first pitch, two pitches later, and he’s down 1-2 in the count. Palencia goes right at Anthony in the fourth pitch of the at-bat and blows a fastball past him to end the game as Venezuela defeats Team USA and wins their first ever WBC championship.
Team USA’s hitters outside of Harper combined to go 1/26 with 3 walks. A dreadful performance with as much star power as they have. The pressure really got to them; it started the game prior, but it reared its ugly head this game. Witt Jr, Judge, and Schwarber in particular are superstars, and they have to wear this the most because of how much they mean to this team and how they didn’t come through.
Judge in particular, as the captain of the team, with his status not to show up on the biggest stage once again.
Congratulations to Venezuela on the biggest win in their country’s existence. Their fans deserve it, and their players represented them very well. Venezuela came in as an underrated team behind the likes of Team USA, Dominican Republic, and Japan, but they reigned supreme at the end of the day.
Team USA, on the other hand, yet another defeat in the WBC championship game by way of a game-losing strikeout. They’re hoping next time around that their offense can consistently be great instead of only showing up against inferior competition and having to rely on elite pitching performances to bail such a juggernaut lineup out.
What an incredible tournament the WBC is. It’s a nice precursor to the MLB season, and you have enough juice every time it comes around, as it’s every 3 years.
Venezuela’s victory will inspire people around the world, forever proving that anything is possible once you put your mind to it.
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