Venezuela will advance to the World Baseball Classic finals for the first time and will face the host nation for the championship in Florida.
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Published March 17, 2026
Venezuela advanced to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship game with a 4-2 victory over Italy in Miami on Monday.
Trailing by three runs in the seventh inning, Venezuela had four consecutive two-out hits and will face the United States for the title in Miami on Tuesday night. The United States defeated the Dominican Republic 2-1 on Sunday in the first semifinal.
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Venezuela is aiming for its first championship, while the United States is aiming for its second. Both teams went 3-1 in pool play, winning the first two games of the finals.
The loss was Italy’s first in the WBC, but it was a Cinderella-like run that saw them advance to the semifinals, going 4-0 in Pool B before defeating Puerto Rico 8-6 in the quarterfinals in Houston on Saturday.
In the second inning, JJ D’Orazio loaded the bases with a walk and Dante Noli hit a scoring grounder to take a 2-0 lead, but with eight outs left, Venezuela counterattacked against losing pitcher Michael Lorenzen and caused yet another upset.
In the seventh inning, Gleyber Torres walked first and Lorenzen struck out Wyyer Abreu and William Contreras. Venezuela completed a hit-and-run, with Jackson Chorio hitting pinch runner Andres Jimenez for a triple.
Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a grounder to the short third base side, and Sam Antonacci picked up the ball cleanly but bounced the throw to first base, allowing Acuña to arrive safely and Jimenez to score.
After Garcia hit a go-ahead single to left, scoring Chorio, Luis Arraez provided insurance with a home Acuña single.
Angel Zerpa got the last two outs of the sixth inning for the win. Eduardo Buzzard and Andres Machado each pitched perfect innings, and Daniel Palencia earned his second save with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Venezuela’s starting pitcher Kayder Montero allowed two runs in 1/3 of an inning.
Garcia and Torres each had two hits for Venezuela.
Italy’s starting pitcher Aaron Nola allowed one run in four innings. Zach Dezenzo had two hits for Italy.
