Venezuela vs. Japan in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic
MIAMI — Champions are out in the World Baseball Classic. This was Venezuela’s night.
Venezuela defeated Japan, the 2023 WBC champions, with an 8-5 victory in the quarterfinals at Depot Park on Saturday night.
Wilyer Abreu hit a leadoff three-run homer in the sixth inning off Hiromi Itoh — the winner of the Sawamura Award, Japan’s version of the Cy Young — and Daniel Palencia got Shohei Ohtani to ground out to send Venezuela to the semifinals against Italy.
For Venezuela manager Omar López, this win is everything.
“I’m doing this for free,” López said after the game. “I don’t earn by managing my team. But my country is celebrating right now.
“It’s so much fun. It’s on the road. They’re drinking now, and that makes me happier than anyone in the world. Because this is all I can do. This is all I can do for my country.
“That’s all I’ll take home with me. And 20 years from now, I’ll remember making my country happy for at least a day or two. That’s all I need.”
The Venezuelan players know what this win means to the Miami fans and to their country, and they are showing it on the field.
Abreu threw both fists as he ran out of the batter’s box in his home to the dugout, then swung his bat straight into the air. The Red Sox pitcher never stopped celebrating all the way around the bases.
“It happened fast,” Abreu said. “It’s a great feeling, something I can’t imagine and it’s very difficult to describe. It’s a unique moment and one of the best moments I’ve had in my career.”
Venezuela faces Italy on Monday night in Miami (8pm ET, FS1). The country is playing in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2009, which was its best ever appearance in the WBC. Venezuela lost to Korea in the semis that year.
“It’s probably the most important game [of my career],” said Ronald Acuña Jr. “When we went to the World Series [with the Braves]I wasn’t there. I thank God that I am living this good time in my career.”
The WBC Japan 2026 race ends here. After the game ended, while Venezuela shared its dugout, Samurai Japan players gathered along the third base line and bowed to the fans in Miami.
“Really, anything other than a championship feels like a failure,” Ohtani said. “Everybody on Team Japan has been working hard, aiming only for the tournament. … It’s sad that it ended this way.”
Saturday’s game got off to a thrilling start as Acuña and Ohtani traded starts against Venezuela and Japan.
Acuña led off the game with a shot to right center off 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, bringing Venezuelan fans to their feet in the crowd as he ended his home run with his signature “La Bestia” (pronounced “The Beast”).
But Ohtani responded with a 114 mph rocket to right — with a bat flip of his own — to tie the game for Samurai Japan.
“Ohtani is a global star,” Acuña said. “He’s amazing. But that’s part of the game, you know? I’m so happy to win.”
That pair of top players made history. Both Acuña and Ohtani are MLB MVPs. There has never been a game in MLB history where two MVP Award winners hit home runs in the same game.
When Yamamoto finally settled in for Japan, pitching four innings, holding Venezuela to two runs and striking out five, Japan later ejected Ranger Suarez from the game for the fourth time.
Teruaki Sato, the reigning MVP of NPB’s Central League, ripped a clutch RBI double down the right field line after an intentional walk to Ohtani. And Shota Morishita — who entered the game in place of Cubs star Seiya Suzuki, who injured his right knee on a stolen base attempt in the first inning — followed Sato with three runs.
But Venezuela got back on track against Japan’s bullpen with Royals All-Star Maikel Garcia’s two-run homer off Chihiro Sumida in the fifth, setting the stage for Abreu’s blast.
“What really changed the game was when Maikel scored,” said Abreu. “The spirit of the team was very high. We were confident that we could win the game after that home player.”
The Japanese workers, who were prominent in their run for the 2023 WBC title, were beaten hard by the MLB stars of Venezuela. Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata praised the high level of competition at Classic 2026.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with our bowls this time, and some of them were here three years ago,” said Ibata. “Many countries are getting better, I believe. I know we lost this time, but I hope that Japan will be better next time. I hope that Team Japan will win next time.”
Of course, one of the pitchers Japan did not have for the 2026 Classic was Ohtani, who hit only in this WBC, per agreement between himself and the Dodgers, after memorably closing the 2023 WBC on the mound by striking out Mike Trout.
Could Ohtani have made a difference in Samurai Japan’s rotation? Of course. But maybe not in this match with fellow Los Angeles native Yamamoto who is already starting.
“I don’t know,” said Ibata. “We didn’t have the option to have Ohtani pitch in the middle of the game, so I don’t think I know what would have happened. But I would have wanted him to pitch, but I didn’t have a choice.”
And whether Ohtani was hitting with them, against them or both, Venezuela is a great team, full of great players — Acuña, Luis Arraez, Salvador Perez, Jackson Chourio, Eugenio Suárez … and on and on.
In their World Baseball Classic run, today’s stars from Venezuela are doing well alongside the country’s greatest players of the past.
“Venezuela has always been the center of baseball,” López said. “We’ve always been a powerhouse — it’s not that we beat Japan, we’ve become a powerhouse. It’s not going to happen.
“We are a global powerhouse like Japan or the US. We are all important in the world of baseball. But we have had so many players, legends, retired players, others who are still playing. Yes, we can say that we are a world power.”
