MIAMI — The 2026 World Baseball Classic produced its most dramatic game yet on Saturday night. Venezuela, trailing 5-2 against defending WBC champion Japan, stormed back for a stunning 8-5 victory at loanDepot Park to advance to the WBC semifinals for the first time since 2009.
The win also clinched Venezuela a spot in the six-nation baseball field for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. They will face unbeaten Italy on Monday night in Miami. The other WBC semifinal between Team USA and the Dominican Republic takes place Sunday.
A crowd of 34,548 witnessed one of the wildest WBC games in tournament history. Both teams traded haymakers from the very first pitch of the night. But it was Venezuela’s middle-innings rally, powered by three home runs, that turned a potential elimination into a celebration that rattled the entire WBC bracket.
Acuna and Ohtani traded WBC homers on the opening swings
Ronald Acuna Jr. set the tone on the second pitch of the game. He crushed a leadoff home run off Japan starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning World Series MVP, driving the ball 401 feet to right-center field. It was Acuna’s second homer of the WBC.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, the 2023 WBC MVP, answered immediately. He lifted a 2-1 slider from Venezuela starter Ranger Suarez 427 feet to center field to tie it at 1-1. The back-to-back leadoff homers set the tone for a WBC quarterfinal that never slowed down.
Venezuela pushed ahead 2-1 in the second on back-to-back doubles by Ezequiel Tovar and former Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres. But the lead did not last.
Japan seized control with a four-run third in the WBC quarterfinal
The third inning turned ugly for Venezuela. After an intentional walk to Ohtani, Teruaki Sato, the reigning MVP of Japan’s Central League, ripped a game-tying RBI double down the right-field line. Then Shota Morishita, who had entered the WBC game only because Seiya Suzuki injured his right knee on a stolen-base attempt in the first inning, crushed a three-run homer off Suarez to give Japan a 5-2 lead.
Suarez was knocked out after 2 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and two homers. With Yamamoto settling in and striking out five in four innings, and a strong Japanese WBC bullpen behind him, everything pointed toward a Japan semifinal berth. The defending WBC champions looked like they were about to roll.
Then Venezuela flipped the script.
Abreu’s blast powers Venezuela’s stunning WBC comeback
The comeback began once Yamamoto exited after four innings. Royals All-Star Maikel Garcia, Acuna’s cousin, drilled a two-run homer off Chihiro Sumida in the fifth inning to cut the WBC deficit to 5-4.
In the sixth, Wilyer Abreu delivered the defining moment of the entire 2026 WBC tournament. The Red Sox outfielder launched a go-ahead three-run homer off Hiromi Itoh, the reigning winner of the Sawamura Award, which is Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young. The ball sailed into the upper deck at loanDepot Park. The WBC crowd erupted.
Abreu pumped both fists as he came out of the box. Then he launched his bat straight into the air. He celebrated all the way around the bases. It was the kind of WBC moment that reminds fans why this tournament matters.
Venezuela added an insurance run in the eighth when Tovar, the Rockies shortstop, stole home to make it 8-5.
Venezuela’s WBC bullpen shut Japan down cold
While the offense grabbed the headlines, Venezuela’s bullpen was the backbone of the WBC victory. Six relievers combined to throw 6 1/3 scoreless innings after Suarez departed. They allowed just four hits and retired 13 straight Japanese batters at one point.
Enmanuel De Jesus earned the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Daniel Palencia picked up the save, ending the WBC game by getting Ohtani to pop out for the final out. Japan’s reign as WBC champions is over.
What the WBC semifinal picture now looks like
The WBC semifinal matchups are now set. Team USA, led by Yankees captain Aaron Judge, faces Juan Soto and the Dominican Republic on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. Venezuela takes on Italy, which beat Puerto Rico 10-6 earlier Saturday in the other WBC quarterfinal, on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
Italy advanced behind a dominant offensive performance that included a WBC-record three home runs from Vinnie Pasquantino in their previous game. They held off a late Puerto Rico rally to win 10-6 and reach the WBC semifinals for the first time in tournament history.
It is Venezuela’s first WBC semifinal appearance in 17 years. Italy has never reached this stage. Neither was expected to be here. Yet both are two wins from the WBC championship.
For Yankees fans, the weekend’s WBC action sets up a loaded Sunday night. Judge and Team USA need to get past the hottest offense in WBC history. Across the bracket, Venezuela proved that no lead is safe in this tournament. Japan, three-time WBC champions, learned that the hard way.
Saturday night in Miami may have been the best game the WBC has ever produced.
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