Venezuela, 'Sushi → Pizza → Hamburgers' are all gone! "Daejin Preferential Treatment" Beat both Japan and the U.S. to become the first WBC top in history [Miami Field Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

Venezuela defeated the United States and won the World Baseball Classic (WBC) trophy for the first time in history.

The Venezuelan national baseball team defeated the United States 3-2 in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) final at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida on the 18th (Korea time). He led 2-0 and allowed a 2-2 tie, but added one more point to take the game.

As a result, Venezuela has made the history of lifting its first trophy since the foundation of the tournament. Venezuela's previous best WBC performance was in the semifinals, but he made it to the finals for the first time in history and achieved the championship. On the other hand, the U.S. sought to regain the top spot for the first time in nine years since the 2017 WBC, but it was unfortunately canceled.

The tournament has been under constant controversy over the "Great advance preferential treatment" that it facilitated the advancement of the host country, the United States and Japan to the finals from the stage of the match-up. However, Venezuela has silenced all the noise with its skills.

On this day, the home team U.S. formed the batting order in the order of Bobby Wit Jr. (striker), Bryce Harper (first baseman), Aaron Judge (right fielder), Kyle Schwarber (designated hitter), Alex Bregman (third baseman), Roman Anthony (left fielder), Will Smith (catcher), Bryce Turang (second baseman), and Byron Buxton (middle fielder). The starting pitcher was Nolan McClain of the New York Mets.

Against this, Venezuela set up its starting lineup in the order of Ronald Acuña Jr. (right fielder), Mikel Garcia (third baseman), Luis Arraez (first baseman), Eugenio Suarez (designated hitter), Ezekiel Toba (striker), Gleyber Torres (second baseman), Willier Abreu (left fielder), Salvador Perez (catcher), and Jackson Churio (center fielder). Eduardo Rodriguez (Arizona Diamondbacks) came forward as the starting pitcher.

The share of the first place was in Venezuela. Perez, the leadoff hitter in the top of the third inning, got on base with a hit to the right. The next Cho Gi-oh struck out, but Acuña walked. U.S. starter McClain threw a wild pitch at Garcia's at-bat to become second and third base. Here, Garcia calmly hit a sacrifice fly to center field to take the lead 1-0.

Venezuela's attacks did not stop. Abreu, who took the lead in the top of the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead, hit McClain's two pitches (96.2 miles of four-seam fastballs) with one strike to hit the center fence. Abreu's batting speed was 106.1 miles (171 kilometers), and the flying distance reached 414 feet (126 meters). Venezuela widened the gap to 2-0.

It was not the United States that would step down as it is. After Bobby Wit Jr. drew a straight walk after two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bryce Harper hit a changeup (93 miles) in the middle of Andres Machado's throw to hit the center fence. The flying distance of the ball was 432 feet (about 132 meters). His batting speed was 109.4 miles (176 kilometers), which was fast enough to sense a home run at the moment he was hit.

In the top of the ninth inning, Venezuela came back to power. Leading hitter Araez drew a walk to changed pitcher Garrett Witlock. Here, Venezuela took the lead by putting in pinch runner Javier Sanoha. Sanoha stole second base in the next batter Suarez's at-bat. Suarez also hit a timely double that separated left-center to lead 3-2 again.

Venezuela put up closer Daniel Palencia in the bottom of the ninth inning. Palencia didn't lose a point and finished the game the same way.

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*This content was translated by AI.