Venezuela shakes up World Baseball Classic by dethroning Ohtani's Japan
On Monday, again in Miami, Venezuela will fight for a place in the final against Italy, the great revelation of the tournament, which eliminated Puerto Rico 8-6 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Wilyer Abreu celebrates the victory
On a historic night in Miami, Venezuela defeated champion Japan 8-5 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic baseball for the first time since the 2009 edition, also earning its first Olympic qualification.
Venezuela, which will compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, handed Shohei Ohtani's squad its first elimination before the semifinals in the six editions of this tournament.
On Monday, again in Miami, Venezuela will fight for a place in the final against Italy, the great revelation of the tournament, which eliminated Puerto Rico 8-6 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Dominican Republic, which also guaranteed its Olympic ticket, will face the United States on Sunday in a heavyweight duel also in the Floridian city.
Venezuela came back from a 5-2 deficit with a two-run home run by Maikel Garcia and a three-run homer by hero Wilyer Abreu.
Party in Miami
Venezuela finished the group stage behind the Dominican Republic, but on Saturday night it pulled off the big surprise of the Classic by knocking out Japan, winner of three titles in the previous five editions.
This year they also advanced undefeated to meet Venezuela in a matchup featuring two stellar major league openers, Ranger Suarez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Few expected such illustrious starters to be beaten in historic fashion by two MVP players, Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr.
On just the second pitch of the game, Venezuelan Acuña Jr. sent a straight drive by Yamamoto, also MVP in the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series win last year, to the bleachers.
At the changeover, it took Ohtani just four pinch-hit homers off Suarez to even the score, the first time two leadoff bats started a Classic game with home runs.
The home runs by these two superstars were the preamble to a night of fireworks at LoanDepot Park, which continued with another homer by Ezequiel Tovar in the second inning.
In the third Japan appeared to take control of the night by scoring four runs, three of them on a home run by Shota Morishita.
Venezuela though, had not said the last word and launched a dizzying comeback with Maikel Garcia's home run that cut into the lead in the fifth inning.
In the sixth came Abreu's memorable triple homer, which put Venezuela ahead with the stands overflowing with jubilation.
As South American relievers contained the Asian bats, Japanese pitcher Atsuki Taneichi made a serious error when he missed a throw to center field that allowed Tovar to score the final run in the eighth inning.
Ohtani, the current baseball superstar and hero of Japan's 2023 triumph, had the sad role of being his team's last batter in a failed attempt to seek a miraculous comeback.
Italy extends the magic
La Azzurri thus entered the semifinals for the first time, with a roster led by Venezuelan manager Francisco Cervelli and made up mainly of U.S.-born ballplayers of Italian descent.
The Italians, which had beaten the United States in the group stage, rebounded from a home run by Willi Castro in the first inning with four runs in that same inning.
The Puerto Ricans scored in the second inning through Heliot Ramos, but Italy came right back, scoring on a double off an Andrew Fischer hit to right field that a spectator caught from the stands by sticking his glove in the outfield.
Following this interference, Italy brought in two more runs thanks to another double by ruler J.J. D'Orazio.
With an 8-2 lead, the Nazionale seemed to have the pass in the pocket, but Puerto Rico reacted with a succession of four runs in the eighth inning.
In the last inning, two scores away from Italy, the Puerto Rican hitters failed in their attempt to break through Boston Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert's wall.
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