Golden Era Thrives in Semifinals, Teams Aim for Legacy Glory
Team USA and Team Venezuela vie for the championship tonight. Come talk about it here!
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 16: Eugenio Suárez #7 of Team Venezuela celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against Team Italy in the fourth inning at loanDepot park on March 16, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images The bars might be full of St. Patrick’s Day revelers dressed in green today but there should at least be a corner of baseball fans ready to see the US take on Venezuela in the finals of the WBC tonight.
Venezuela earned a trip to the finals in a hard-fought battle against Team Italy yesterday that saw Venezuela emerge victorious, 4-2. For Team Italy, who punched above their weight class all tournament long, the clock finally struck midnight against a well-balanced Venezuelan team. Italy got on the board first against Venezuelan starter Keider Montero, who gave up a single three straight walks in the second, forcing in a run.
Team Venezuela then brought in one-time Mariners prospect Ricardo Sánchez, who let one of those inherited runners score on a force out to put Italy up 2-0, but otherwise cleaned up the mess. Venezuela got their first run in the fourth, on a solo homer from former Mariner Eugenio Suárez off Aaron Nola, a sight that’s familiar to many Mariners fans: Team Italy had a chance to extend their lead in the sixth against Royals reliever Angel Zerpa, after Team Venezuela made the head-scratching decision to intentionally walk J. J.
D’Orazio to get to Dante Nori, the hero from Game 1 of Italy’s WBC. Nori singled to load the bases, but Zerpa was able to strike out Sam Antonacci looking to end the threat. It’s tough because Antonacci is a shortstop and Team Italy was already down Miles Mastrobuoni, who could play short in a pinch, but it still sucks that Dominic Canzone didn’t get a chance to hit here, or at all in this game.