Jorge Castillo Mar 16, 2026, 11:05 PM ET
MIAMI — Ronald Acuña Jr. raced to first base, beat the throw from Italy shortstop Sam Antonacci and kept going.
The Venezuelan superstar high-stepped another 90 feet down the right-field line, screaming as thousands of countrymen at LoanDepot Park roared after his score-tying, infield RBI single Monday night.
Teammates spilled from the dugout, leaping and banging imaginary tamboras in celebration. Venezuela fans, who packed the park hoping to see their national team reach the World Baseball Classic final for the first time, erupted.
Behind its electric leadoff hitter, Venezuela finally drew even with Italy in the seventh inning — and then took the lead. Maikel Garcia followed with a go-ahead RBI single and Luis Arraez added an insurance run, a two-out hit that pushed Venezuela to a historic 4-2 win.
Days after qualifying for the Olympics for the first time with a comeback over Japan in the quarterfinals, Venezuela will play for its first WBC championship against Team USA in a rematch of a heated 2023 quarterfinal that the Americans won.
“We never lost confidence in the type of roster we had,” Acuña said in Spanish. “We always stayed on the same page, and I think that’s what carried us into the final.”
Tension had built during the middle innings as Venezuela’s offense stalled. Italy, which rode a surprising run to its first WBC semifinal, jumped in front thanks to Venezuela starter Keider Montero’s control problems in the second inning.
Montero allowed a one-out single to Zach Dezenzo, then issued three straight walks. The bases-loaded walk to J.J. D’Orazio pushed home the game’s first run, and Dante Nori’s fielder’s choice made it 2-0. Venezuela manager Omar López pulled Montero after 33 pitches and 1⅓ innings, leaving his bullpen to work the rest of the way.
López used six relievers, who shut down one of the tournament’s top offenses. They held Italy to three hits and two walks over the final 7⅔ innings with eight strikeouts.
“We knew we had to be ready early. We didn’t know what situation we were going to come in,” Andres Machado, who logged a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts, said in Spanish. “Winning, losing, we could have entered. In the bullpen, that’s what we understand. We’re always ready. We don’t have any specific roles. We just go out there to help the team in whatever way we can.”
Aaron Nola started for Italy and cruised early. Michael Lorenzen, originally penciled to start, was pushed back by manager Francisco Cervelli in favor of Nola, a decision Cervelli said he owned.
“It was me,” Cervelli said in Spanish before the game. “Everyone is available, but I think Nola is the right person. That’s my opinion, and I’m taking responsibility for my decisions.”
The call paid off. Nola held Venezuela scoreless until Eugenio Suarez launched an 80 mph knuckle curve for a solo homer in the fourth — the only run Nola allowed Monday and the only run he surrendered across eight innings in his two WBC starts.
Cervelli then piggybacked Nola with Lorenzen in the fifth, willing to use a key arm that otherwise might have started in the championship to increase Italy’s chance of reaching the final. Lorenzen walked William Contreras to bring up Jackson Chourio, but López had Chourio bunt to advance Contreras. The play worked strategically, and Lorenzen escaped the inning to preserve Italy’s one-run lead.
The seventh inning changed the game. Gleyber Torres worked a leadoff walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Andres Gimenez. Lorenzen struck out Wilyer Abreu and Contreras, appearing close to escaping again. But Chourio lined a single to center, moving Gimenez to third and sparking Venezuela’s rally.
Acuña attacked Lorenzen’s first pitch, hitting a 97.7 mph groundball just deep enough into the hole to beat Antonacci’s throw. Garcia then ripped a line drive to center to give Venezuela the lead, and Arraez’s two-out hit added insurance.
Next up for Venezuela is a matchup with the star-studded U.S. team in the American city with the highest concentration of Venezuelan natives, just 2½ months after a U.S. military strike captured Venezuela’s president and his wife on Jan. 3. Veteran left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is scheduled to start for Venezuela opposite Nolan McLean, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects. The U.S., after winning a tiebreaking coin flip, will be the home team.
“A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We’ve never been in the championship of the WBC before. We got there, and we’re happy, we’re excited to play tomorrow against the United States. We have to come tomorrow and play the same way we played against Japan and Italy. We have to show the world who Venezuela is.”
Venezuela will enter as underdogs despite showcasing stars, with several high-profile major leaguers — Jose Altuve, Pablo López, Jesus Luzardo, Jose Alvarado and Miguel Rojas among them — expected to participate but unable to for reasons including insurance, injury or, in Luzardo’s case, refusal after pool play.
Altuve, who was denied insurance, and López, who recently had Tommy John surgery, attended Monday’s game. They watched their country accomplish something it had never done: move within one win of a championship that has eluded Venezuela — thanks in large part to their superstar’s scamper.
“This is No. 1 for me in my career,” said Acuña, the 2023 NL MVP and five-time All-Star with the Atlanta Braves. “I love Atlanta a lot, but before I played in Atlanta, I was born in Venezuela. Venezuela made Ronald Acuña Jr.”
