Venezuela defeats Italy, sets up WBC final against US

Venezuela is through to its first World Baseball Classic final and will play the host nation for the title in Florida.Published On 17 Mar 2026Maikel Garcia hit a tie-breaking ‌single in the seventh inning for Venezuela, which advanced to the ⁠World Baseball Classic (WBC) ⁠championship game by beating Italy 4-2 on Monday in Miami.Venezuela, which pieced together four straight two-out hits in a three-run seventh, will ⁠play the United States for the title on Tuesday night in Miami. The US beat the Dominican Republic 2-1 on Sunday in the first semifinal.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2UCL: Real Madrid hoping to knock out Man City for a third straight yearlist 2 of 2AFC has received no notification from Iran on World Cup withdrawalend of listVenezuela is ⁠seeking its first championship, while the US is aiming for its second crown. Both teams went 3-1 in pool play before winning their first two games in the knockout rounds.The loss was the first of the WBC for Italy, which ‌made a Cinderella run to the semifinals by going 4-0 in pool B play before beating Puerto Rico 8-6 in a quarterfinal at Houston on Saturday.Italy, which took a 2-0 lead in the second when JJ D’Orazio drew a bases-loaded walk, and Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring groundout, was eight outs away from another upset when Venezuela rallied against losing pitcher ⁠Michael Lorenzen.Gleyber Torres worked a leadoff walk in the seventh, ⁠before Lorenzen whiffed Wilyer Abreu and William Contreras. Venezuela pulled off a hit-and-run in which Jackson Chourio singled pinch runner Andres Gimenez to third.Ronald Acuna Jr followed with a grounder to the third ⁠base side of short, where Sam Antonacci picked the ball cleanly but bounced the throw to first, as Acuna arrived ⁠safely, and Gimenez scored.Garcia strikes the ball against Team Italy in the semifinal [Megan Briggs/Getty Images via AFP]Garcia delivered the go-ahead ⁠single to left, scoring Chourio, before Luis Arraez provided insurance by singling home Acuna.