Venezuelan players on Monday night danced in the dugout before the first pitch, then pranced past Italy and into their nation’s first World Baseball Classic (WBC) final.
Ronald Acuna Jr, Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a rapid seventh-inning rally that sparked a 4-2 victory and vaulted Venezuela into a title matchup against the US.
Players celebrated in the clubhouse before quickly turning focus to the final.
Photo: AP
“A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We have to show the world who Venezuela is.”
Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for the tambor, coastal Afro-Venezuelan music and dance. They circle and shake, chant and enchant as they prepare to take the field in their nation’s yellow, red and blue.
“That’s us. That’s our country,” manager Omar Lopez said. “That’s winter ball. That’s how we enjoy our baseball.”
“Honestly, I think my cousin is the best dancer,” Garcia said in the postgame interview room, turning to Acuna, who was seated next to him and laughed at his relative’s remark.
Eduardo Rodriguez is slated to start this morning (Taipei time) against the US’ Nolan McLean. Because both teams are 5-1, a coin toss was held earlier on Monday to determine the home team, and the US won.
Players avoided discussing the political turmoil between the US and Venezuela.
“We’re here to speak baseball,” Acuna said. “Our country deserves the game tomorrow.”
Venezuela overcame a 2-0, fourth-inning deficit after climbing out of a three-run hole to beat defending champion Japan in a quarter-final. The Venezuelans reached the championship round for the first time after losing to South Korea in their only previous semi-final appearance in 2009.
In 2023, Venezuela wasted a two-run, eighth-inning lead in a 9-7 quarter-final loss to the US in Miami as Trea Turner hit an eighth-inning grand slam.
“Baseball gives you these kind of opportunities,” Acuna said. “Life is so ironic.”
Italy, the first European nation to reach a WBC semi-final, had been 5-0 in the tournament and sparked attention with an espresso-sipping ritual after home runs and victory celebrations featuring Italian wine.
However, a team with three Italy-born players, a handful of MLB players and many from the minors could not hold a late-inning lead against a batting order that got three straight RBIs from All-Stars as a pro-Venezuelan sellout crowd of 35,382 at loanDepot park roared.
“In three years, they are going to take us seriously,” Italy manager Francisco Cervelli said. “I just told the guys that they are the champions of this tournament... They revolutionized Italy. They put another sport on the map.”
Italy went ahead in the second when Keider Montero forced in a run with three straight walks, the last to J.J. D’Orazio. Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring forceout against Ricardo Sanchez, the first of six relievers who combined to finish a five-hitter.
Eugenio Suarez’s fourth-inning homer off Aaron Nola started the comeback, and winner Angel Zerpa escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he threw a sinker on the outside corner past Sam Antonacci.
Gleyber Torres walked leading off the seventh against loser Michael Lorenzen, and Jackson Chourio’s two-out single put runners at the corners.
Acuna grounded to the shortstop hole and beat Antonacci’s throw from the outfield grass as pinch-runner Andres Gimenez scored. Garcia lined a 2-0 fastball to left, driving in Chourio with the go-ahead run, and Arraez chased Lorenzen when he singled on a full-count fastball.
Daniel Palencia got three straight outs for the save, striking out Antonacci to end the game.
As Venezuelans jumped and screamed, Italy players spent 10 minutes in front of their dugout hugging each other and saluting fans. Team captain Vinnie Pasquantino talked about the millions thought to have watched on television in Italy, where the first pitch was thrown at 1:08am on Tuesday.
“We weren’t successful on the field tonight, but we were successful in Italy,” he said. “And that’s what this is all about.”
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