Venezuela Break USA Hearts to Win First World Baseball Classic -

Cubs’ closer, Danny Palencia, reached back for a little extra. With two outs in the ninth, he was one strike away from sending the near-hysterical yellow and blue crowd into raptures. With the fastest pitch of the evening, the right-hander blew a 99.7 mph four-seamer past Roman Anthony to clinch the 2026 WBC for Venezuela.

Although lacking the dynamic play of other games in the tournament, the final was a nail-biting affair, which went right down to the final pitch. Let’s be honest, when you face a lineup headed by Bobby Witt Jr., Bryce Harper, and Aaron Judge, two runs are never going to be enough.

Mets’ starter – and favourite for the 2026 NL Rookie of the Year – Nolan McLean was given the honour of taking the ball for the USA. The 24-year-old tossed 48 innings last season for a 2.08 ERA and controlled the Venezuelan bats with consummate ease.

A Ronald Acuña Jr. walk – after Salvador Perez had singled to start the third inning – gave Venezuela their first real threat of the game. The veteran catcher’s lack of speed caused a roadblock on the base paths, so Venezuela would need to get Salvy to third, which is exactly what happened when McLean’s wild pitch moved everyone up one base.

Maikel García – who would later be named World Baseball Classic MVP – gave Venezuela first blood with a sacrifice fly.

Side note: In 2024, in my 30 Boldish Predictions article, I suggested “I will venture that third baseman Maikel García, will commit his .081 ISO to a distant memory and have a breakout 20-home run and 25-stolen base season.”

He didn’t. I was a year too early. But it is interesting that with the US media describing the last couple of weeks as Maikel Garcia introducing himself to the baseball world, we Brits have known about Garcia’s potential for a while.

If Nolan McLean quieting the Venezuelan bats was predictable, Eduardo Rodriguez matching him against the US lineup was not.

With nothing faster than 93 mph, the Diamondbacks starter – who finished last season with an ERA over 5.00 – bamboozled the Dream Team of US hitters with his cutter, fastball, change-up mix. It shouldn’t have worked this well… but it did.

The 32-year-old gave manager Omar López 4⅓ scoreless innings, restricting the USA to one walk and a Brice Turang single.

Red Sox’ outfielder, Wilyer Abreu, doesn’t hit lefties, but as he showed with his titanic homer against Japan in the quarter-final, he is dangerous if a righty misses his spot. And miss his spot is what McLean did, leaving a fastball middle-middle, for Abreu to launch over the centre field wall.

Olympic boxing has three rounds. This felt like one of those fights. Round one to Venezuela, but while it remained just 2-0, a single hit could change the momentum of the game completely.

Both managers went to their bullpen. This would be the most critical part of the manager’s role today. There is not much either López or Mark DeRosa can do about superstars swinging and missing, but selecting the right arm for the right situation could be a game-changer.

DeRosa was already working with a huge advantage. The USA were off yesterday while Venezuela was involved in a high-intensity comeback win against Italy. For some of the Venezuelan relievers, they had already pitched the most important games of their careers… and now they had to be ready to repeat it on no rest.

The USA’s manager had another gift when Tarik Skubal – along with two others – was replaced by fresh bullpen arms: Tyler Rogers, Tim Hill and Will Vest. Rogers had a sub-2.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP last season, while Vest secured 23 saves.

Both bullpens traded blows. A Roman Anthony walk, and singles by Bryce Harper and Ezequiel Tovar represented the only three base runners by either team.

Until the eighth inning.

Venezuela needed six outs to clinch the championship.

Surely, the USA would not fade away with a whimper? Surely the “Greatest Team Ever Assembled” would rally? Surely, this fantasy baseball dream lineup would not lose its second straight WBC final… and this time without troubling the scorers?

Andrés Machado faced the “weak belly” of the USA lineup. Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong combined for nearly 50 homers and 200 runs last year. Now, with the top of the order coming up, they had one job – to get on base.

Turang struck out on three pitches. That wasn’t in the script. Five outs needed.

Crow-Armstrong grounded out to Andrés Giménez. Four outs needed.

Bobby Witt Jr. stared down at the Venezuelan pitcher, tempting him to put one on the plate. He didn’t. He walked the Royals’ talisman with four consecutive balls.

Amazingly, given the ineptitude of the USA hitters during the first 8⅔ innings, they had the tying run coming to the plate.

Within sabermetric circles, the idea of “clutch” is dismissed. But after 30 years of watching baseball, there was no one on the US roster I’d rather see up in that moment than Bryce Harper.

Big moments call for big personalities.

Machado left a change-up over the plate.

The Phillies slugger demolished the ball to dead centre.

Tie game.

Venezuela’s hearts broken. We’ve seen this movie before.

Harper kissed the USA flag on his jersey as he crossed home plate, and for the first time all night, the American fans found their voices.

And so to the ninth. Garrett Whitlock, who has been lights-out – three scoreless appearances (one hit, no walks, five strikeouts) – replaced Griffin Jax. Was Mason Miller unavailable? Was he being saved for extras? Was this a DeRosa plan?

Luis Arraez, who was 0-for-3, walked, giving Venezuela a leadoff base runner. He was replaced by pinch-runner Javier Sanoja, who attempted to swipe second. Will Smith’s throw beat the Marlins’ speedster to second, but a sliding manoeuvre made this a tight call. Undoubtedly, it would be challenged, but the umpire’s decision would be critical.

Safe!

That felt like a huge moment. The replay confirmed it was too close to overturn the on-field decision. Venezuela had a man in scoring position with no outs.

Like Arraez, Eugenio Suarez came to the plate 0-for-3. He was 3-for-16 during the WBC, but two of those three hits were home runs.

Whitlock capitalised on Suarez’s all-or-nothing approach, getting the Reds’ slugger to whiff on a change-up and a sinker. With the count full, this time Suarez picked the change-up and drove it.

As the camera angle switched from hitter to destination, it became apparent that the ball was not going to be snagged by an amazing PCA catch. It was going to drop. Sanoja was simply jogging as he crossed home plate to restore Venezuela’s lead.

Right-hander Daniel Palencia had to negotiate a ninth-inning Murderer’s Row of three left-handers if Venezuela was to win their first-ever WBC.

Kyle Schwarber hit 56 home runs in the regular season, but struck out swinging. Two outs needed.

Next up was pinch-hitter Gunnar Henderson.

Another stark contrast in the weapons available to DeRosa compared to Lopez was the depth of the USA bench. Cal Raleigh (60 HR, 169 OPS+) didn’t make an appearance in the final, and while Venezuela employed Andrés Giménez (66 OPS+) as a bench replacement, the USA called upon Gunnar Henderson (17 HR, 121 OPS+) to take this to extras.

Henderson popped up. One out needed.

When Roman Anthony was unable to catch up with Palencia’s near-100 mph four-seamer – the fastest pitch of the game – the championship trophy belonged to Venezuela, in one of the greatest baseball tournaments ever.

The crowd erupted in Miami and Caracas. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re not still singing and dancing now.

And so, the end of another World Baseball Classic. Too many highlights to process at the moment. Certainly too many 3:30am finishes for caffeine-fuelled UK viewers.

The WBC isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but it definitely appeals to real baseball fans.

Featured image of Danny Palencia by Megan Briggs/Getty Images