With all due respect to Comrade Ratto, the nationalistic pride on display by the Americans carried a different tenor than the WBC's other contenders. Of course it would. This game featured a nation that had recently bombed and invaded its opponents'. Rather than making an effort to keep that association at arm's length, Team USA embraced it.
Venezuela played with heart and national pride (the players even had a drum in the dugout, each base hit a party), the Dominicans with the verve characteristic of the Serie del Caribe, and in a surprising semi-final run, the Italians adopted the underdog spirit of a soccer nation intent on proving they can swing the lumber, too all while sipping espresso in the dugout.
I was pretty meh on the pool play format given two teams of five advancing in each pool, which felt like it was going to water down the proceedings a bit... but I ended up really enjoying the days of wall-to-wall pool play.
Trailing for most of the game, the Team USA looked to have hauled themselves back into the contest when Bryce Harper blasted a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning. But Harper's salvo proved to be in vain as Venezuela regained the lead in the ninth inning, punishing a shaky performance from USA reliever Garrett Whitlock to clinch victory.
If you know someone in Venezuela, call them. Tell them that Venezuela is in the Olympics and in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. In front of a favorable sold-out crowd, in the U.S. city with the highest concentration of native Venezuelans, López's players had knocked off defending champion Samurai Japan and accomplished two firsts for the nation's baseball team.
On a 3-2 pitch, Miller threw a slider that was several inches below the strike zone. Perdomo laid off the pitch, but the home plate umpire called it a strike for the third and final out. A stunned Perdomo dropped his bat and raised his arms above his head as the Americans began celebrating.
For the first time in WBC history, Canada advanced to the knockout stage after winning Pool A with a 3-1 record. The narrow loss to the US showed that they are now more competitive on the international stage than ever before, and stand to keep improving ahead of the 2028 Olympics and 2029 installment of the WBC.
The Dominican Republic threatened in the ninth when Julio Rodriguez drew a walk and advanced to third against Mason Miller. With two outs, Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo for his second save but the final pitch on a full count and with the dangerous Fernando Tatis Jr up next was several inches below the strike zone.
Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki limped off the field during the first inning after getting caught stealing second base. Kevin Barral of Fish On First reported that Suzuki was removed due to discomfort in his right knee and that the team would continue to evaluate him. After the game, superstar Shohei Ohtani spoke to reporters and noted that Suzuki hadn't yet undergone imaging to determine the severity of the issue.
The 38-year-old of Incheon, South Korea suited up for his national team at the 2026 World Baseball Classic and following the teams' elimination in the quarterfinals, Ryu says he has thrown his last professional pitch.
