MIAMI (AP) — Venezuela has won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth. Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd in Miami. Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits before Bryce Harper’s two-out, two-run homer in the eighth tied it. Daniel Palencia retired the side in order in the ninth, finishing a three-hitter.
U.S. falls short again in WBC final as Venezuela stuns star-studded roster
MIAMI (AP) — Aaron Judge walked slowly back and forth in the United States’ dugout on Tuesday night while Venezuelan players shed tears and fell to their knees to celebrate the country’s first World Baseball Classic title. Other players from the Americans’ $320 million roster stood frozen for several minutes before finally leaving the field. Team USA brought its most loaded roster ever to baseball’s premier international event, but the Americans lost their second straight WBC final after winning the championship in 2017.