Author: rincon

Team USA and Venezuela needed to win low-scoring affairs to punch their tickets into Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic final. However, Derek Jeter believes that the championship matchup might be a bit different.

After the two winning sides scored a combined six runs in their semifinal victories, Jeter predicted that the USA-Venezuela matchup will be a high-scoring affair. 

“There’s no easy outs in either lineup,” Jeter said on FS1’s postgame show following Venezuela’s 4-2 win over Italy on Tuesday. “Every pitch is important. Sometimes when you’re a pitcher and navigating through a lineup, you have a few guys where you’re able to breathe. You fall behind, and you may be able to throw a ball over the plate. Neither side can do that. You’re going to have to focus one through nine for nine innings. 

“I expect the offense to show up — I expect the offense to show up on both sides tomorrow night.”

Between the USA and Venezuela rosters, there are 20 All-Star hitters set to play in Tuesday’s final. But the two teams haven’t provided a ton of fireworks to this point. Venezuela has scored five or fewer runs in three of its first six games. The same goes for Team USA, which has scored just seven total runs in the knockout stage.

So, with that in mind, David Ortiz is anticipating more of the same in Tuesday’s final. 

“The pitching that I saw from the U.S. last night, and the pitching that I saw from Venezuela tonight, it’s going to be a battle,’ Ortiz said. “We always talk about good pitching going to stop good offense. If you look at it properly, both teams haven’t been able to attack like everybody expect. It’s going to be the battle of the pitching tomorrow. That’s what I expect.”

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What was key to helping the USA and Venezuela punch their tickets to the WBC final on Tuesday were strong performances from their respective bullpens. Team USA’s bullpen didn’t allow a run in over five innings of work in its semifinal win over the Domincan Republic. Venezuela’s bullpen, meanwhile, didn’t surrender a run in 7 ⅔ innings of work on Monday.

That’s why Alex Rodriguez believes it’s vital for both teams to get out to an early lead in Tuesday’s championship battle. 

“Whoever is going to win tomorrow night is going to have to do it early, because both bullpens are lights out,” Rodriguez said. “The last nine outs aren’t going to be fun either way. So, it’s vital to be ahead in the first six innings.”

No matter what happens, though, Rodriguez expects the World Baseball Classic to live up to the hype.

“This is going to be must-see TV,” Rodriguez said. “I know we had the Oscars a couple of nights ago, but this is going to be like an Oscars because these teams have played the best, you’re going to have stars all over the place and I cannot wait to think about tomorrow.”

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Maikel Garcia has won a playoff series in his young career with the Kansas City Royals, but the star infielder might have had the biggest moment of his baseball life in Venezuela’s 4-2 win over Italy in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic. Garcia seems to feel that way, too.

Following Monday’s win, Garcia shared how special the win was for him during his postgame interview with the FS1 crew. 

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“Big leagues is not like this,” Garcia said. “This is amazing. This is different. I think this is going to help me to play better in the big leagues.”

In a follow-up, Derek Jeter asked Garcia if the environment in Kansas City was anything like what he experienced in Miami’s loanDepot on Monday during his time in Kansas City. 

“Not even close,” Garcia replied.

Garcia played a key role in electrifying the Venezuelan crowd on Monday. He went 2 for 4 at the plate, with one of those hits knocking in what would be the game-winning run. Garcia hit a single to left off Italy pitcher Michael Lorenzen in the seventh inning that gave Venezuela a 3-2 lead. That hit was sandwiched between a pair of other base knocks that helped Venezuela rally from a 2-1 deficit. 

Two of the game’s top hitters, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Luis Arraez, were the other two players from Venezuela who contributed to the seventh-inning comeback. But Garcia credited someone who wasn’t in Venezuela’s lineup for helping lift the ballclub toward an appearance in the World Baseball Classic final against Team USA: Royals catcher Salvador Perez. 

“Before we got here, he told me about [how] it’s different,” Garcia said of Perez. “We played before in winter ball. This is different than winter ball. It’s loud. There’s a lot of people from different countries. We have to make the plays and play good. He’s a great captain. He’s helped me a lot in the big leagues and he did a great job last night. Thank God we have him here.” 

Venezuela will take on the USA in the World Baseball Classic final at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and FOX One. 

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Venezuela is off to its first World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday night, but it used up a lot of its biggest bullpen arms in the process.

While the USA had a day off on Monday night for its arms to rest, seven Venezuelan arms pitched in their 4-2 win over Italy.

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Keider Montero (Tigers), Ricardo Sánchez, Luinder Avila (Royals), Angel Zerpa (Brewers), Eduard Bazardo (Mariners), Andrés Machado and Daniel Palencia (Cubs) combined to allow two runs, both of which were given up by Montero.

The six relievers combined to throw 7 ⅔ scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks. The Venezuelans dominated the Italian lineup while their bats scored three times in the seventh inning to take the lead.

“They just threw everybody tonight,” MLB on FOX analyst Derek Jeter said after Tuesday’s game in Miami. 

The Venezuelans threw seven pitchers in their win over Japan on Saturday night, as well, with Bazardo, Zerpa, Machado and Palencia appearing in both games. Jeter pointed out that not only is that a potentially heavy workload at any time of year, but this is the time of year, teams are more focused on their pitchers making it healthily to opening day than anything else.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will be on the mound for Venezuela against Team USA on Tuesday night in Miami. Rodriguez last pitched on Wednesday in a loss to the Dominican Republic, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Jeter likes the matchup for the Americans.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say they get it going tomorrow night,” Jeter said.

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Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Team USA. Venezuela. We have ourselves a World Baseball Classic Championship Game. 

Venezuela took down surprise squad Italy in Monday’s semifinal game after having defeated defending champions Japan. 

Awaiting the South American squad in the final is Aaron Judge and Team USA, who took down the Dominican Republic in the semis. 

The game will be Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. 

How to Watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic

FOX is your exclusive home to the WBC with games spread across the FOX family of networks. 

The USA vs. Italy/Venezuela Championship Game will be on FOX on Tuesday, March 17 (8 p.m. ET). The game will be available for streaming on the FOX Sports app and FOX One. Catch the action on the following streaming options:

• FOXSports.com and FOX Sports app
• FOX One

How to Watch on Galaxy XR Headset

Watch the World Baseball Championship Game on the FOX Sports XR app for the Galaxy XR headset powered by Android XR.

How to Watch At Cosm

Watch the World Baseball Classic Championship Game in a live immersive experience at Cosm’s award-winning shared reality venues in Dallas & Los Angeles. For details, click on Cosm.com.

Team USA Lineup, Pitchers

USA manager Mark DeRosa will go with New York Mets starter Nolan McLean for Tuesday’s final. He started in the USA’s lone loss at the WBC, a 8-6 setback to Italy in Pool B play. The 24-year-old McLean had a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings for the Mets down the stretch last season.

“I’m built for this,” McLean said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this.”

The vaunted USA lineup has nine home runs through the tournament, with four players (Yankees OF Aaron Judge, Red Sox OF Roman Anthony, Cubs OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Orioles 2B Gunnar Henderson) with two each. Anthony leads the team with seven RBI and Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has eight hits so far. 

Venezuela Lineup, Pitchers

Team Venezuela has had an amazing run at the WBC, defeating Italy in the semifinals and the reigning champs Japan in the quarters. Now they face the ultimate test in Tuesday’s matchup if they want to take down the USA for the first WBC title in its history.

Venezuela will go with Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound against the USA. The Diamondbacks pitcher allowed three runs in 2.2 innings against the Dominican Republic in pool play. 

Luis Arráez has been a hitting machine for Venezuela. The Padres star has two home runs and 10 RBI with a solid .348 batting average. In the win over Italy, Eugenio Suarez hit his first home run of the tournament. Royals star Maikel Garcia and Ronald Acuña Jr. had homers in the win against Japan, as did Wilyer Abreu who hit the definitive three-run homer that sealed the win over Japan. 

WBC Final

Tuesday, March 17: USA vs. SF2 winner (8 p.m., LoanDepot Park in Miami on FOX)

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

We’re set for a World Baseball Classic final for the ages. USA vs. Venezuela. Two of the tournament favorites will play for it all on Tuesday in Miami.

But before we get to that, let’s recap Monday’s semifinal action at the World Baseball Classic. 

Venezuela Into First Ever WBC Final

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In the end, the espresso machine just couldn’t generate enough juice.

Italy’s surprise run at the WBC came to an end as Venezuela took care of business against the Italians in front of a raucous crowd in Miami. It’s now the first ever WBC championship game appearance for the Venezuelans. 

Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a seventh-inning rally to propel Venezuela to the victory. 

Venezuela overcame a 2-0, fourth-inning deficit after rebounding from a three-run hole to beat defending champion Japan in a quarterfinal and reached the final for the first time after losing to South Korea in its only previous semifinal appearance in 2009.

Italy, the first European nation to reach a WBC semifinal, had been 5-0 in the tournament and sparked attention with an espresso-sipping ritual after home runs and victory celebrations featuring Italian wine.

Italy went ahead in the second when Keider Montero forced in a run with three straight walks, the last to J.J. D’Orazio. Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring forceout against Ricardo Sanchez, the first of six relievers who combined to finish a five-hitter.

Eugenio Suárez’s fourth-inning homer off Aaron Nola started the comeback, and winner Angel Zerpa escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he threw a sinker on the outside corner past Sam Antonacci.

Gleyber Torres walked leading off the seventh against loser Michael Lorenzen, and Jackson Chourio’s two-out single put runners at the corners.

Acuña grounded to the shortstop hole and beat Antonacci’s throw from the outfield grass as pinch-runner Andrés Giménez scored. Garcia lined a 2-0 fastball to left, driving in Chourio with the go-ahead run, and Arraez chased Lorenzen when he singled on a full-count fastball.

Daniel Palencia got three outs for the save, striking out Antonacci to end the game.

USA Will Be ‘Home’ Team in WBC Final

Because both teams are 5-1, a coin toss was held earlier Monday to determine the home team, and the U.S. won.

But don’t be surprised if the crowd in Miami, just like was in Monday’s game, will have a lot more fans cheering for Venezuela. 

Regardless, Team USA is looking forward to the challenge of winning their first WBC title since 2017 after losing the 2023 title to Japan. U.S. captain Aaron Judge’s controlled composure has filtered through the clubhouse ahead of Tuesday night’s final against Venezuela.

“It’s been cool to see how he goes about his business,” said star pitcher Paul Skenes, who got the win in the semifinal over the Dominican Republic. “He’s not faking anything. He’s playing as Aaron Judge, so that’s just his personality in the clubhouse and off the field. Obviously, it shows up on the field, too.”

The USA will also likely face Venezuela pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez against the Americans’ Nolan McLean. 

McLean started in the USA’s lone loss at the WBC, a 8-6 setback to Italy in Pool B play. The 24-year-old McLean had a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings for the Mets down the stretch last season.

“I’m built for this,” McLean said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this.”

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There are many familiar faces and names to MLB fans on the Italy roster, including a couple on the coaching staff.

Francisco Cervelli is the manager, and his former Yankees teammate, Jorge Posada, is the Azzurri’s assistant hitting coach. Posada spoke with the MLB on FOX crew ahead of Italy’s World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela, which includes former teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, along with former Red Sox rival David Ortiz.

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Posada’s parents are Cuban and Dominican, so he was asked how this gig with the Italian team came about. He and Cervelli were teammates from 2008-2011, which began their relationship that brought him to the WBC.

“Cervey called me about eight months ago and he said, ‘I’m doing the managing for Team Italy, and I want you to be part of my group,’” Posada said. “And I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’m in.’”

Italy scored 32 runs in its four pool-play games before scoring eight against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals.

“It’s just they grind at-bats,” Posada said. “They do the right things to put themselves in good counts. They’re not afraid. They’re not afraid. They go to get you. And we’ve been pitching very well. So, hopefully that keeps going.”

“The way they put at-bats (together), the way they pitch, execute, move the lineup around — it was really impressive to see,” Posada added. “And that’s all you want. You want people to step up.”

Working with Cervelli, though, has been the highlight for Posada, who also played and won championships with Jeter and A-Rod. They all spoke highly of Cervelli, who played in MLB from 2008-2020.

“Yeah, he’s been unbelievable,” Posada said. “He’s prepared. He’s looking forward to every day. The way he talks, he’s just a grown man. I mean, and it’s good to see that what we saw — the energy and stuff he has — developed into a great human man.”

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LoanDepot Park (Miami) – Hours after the Dominican Republic was eliminated by the United States, players walked out of the clubhouse blasting a high-energy Dominican Dembow song. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto strutted through the tunnel of the Miami Marlins’s stadium unable to mask their expressions of disappointment and frustration. 

Yet, despite their 2-1 defeat to Team USA in the World Baseball Classic semifinal, the Dominican Republic tried their best to leave the tournament the same way they entered it. As Soto said a day before the WBC started: “We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to be loud.”

The Dominican Republic team paraded its distinctive style of playing baseball with fun and flair from beginning to end in their undefeated run to the semifinals. Players lifted a dumbbell adorned with plantains to celebrate hitting home runs. They danced and took fake selfies at home plate. They pounded their chests while running the bases. They smiled. They laughed. They hugged. They sent 40-foot bat flips into the air. Every swing was dramatic. Every strikeout was aggressive. Every at-bat was a confrontation. 

This wasn’t fluff; they backed it up. The Dominican Republic this year set a record for the most home runs (15) by a single team in WBC history. Their celebrations were just as explosive as their offensive firepower. 

The festive atmosphere created by the Dominican Republic had a ripple effect across sold-out crowds and through social media as people watching the tournament worldwide experienced the joy that became the team’s identity. Passion was their personality. Entertainment was essential. And it’s not just the Dominican Republic. Team Italy has an espresso machine in the dugout, and players drink a shot of java after hitting home runs.

That style of play was so endearing and so infectious that Team USA fans wondered why players didn’t seem like they were having fun. Dugout celebrations were quieter. Their energy was consistent, if monotonous. There were no props to commemorate home runs. USA’s sense of been there, done that is in stark contrast to the way the rest of the countries in the tournament have openly shown emotion. The Americans took care of business, and played like businessmen.

They know they’re being criticized for it.

“For some reason, everyone thinks that we don’t have fun playing baseball,” USA outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said after their win on Sunday. “I don’t know if we make it look like we don’t have fun or what, but our goal is to make it to the championship game. I don’t think we want to get ahead of ourselves, and I think we understand that it’s nine innings of baseball.”

Crow-Armstrong said the team is “having a blast out there.” To prove his point, he posted on his Instagram story a picture of Gunnar Henderson’s home run against the Dominican Republic and Team USA’s excited reaction, accompanied by the song “Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore. The Chicago Cubs outfielder sounded almost offended as he defended the perception that the team isn’t having fun. 

“I’m not offended at all,” he said. “I just think it’s hilarious. Really, I do.”

Crow-Armstrong continued: “You guys will think it’s silly if we shuffled like Soto or did Vladdy’s little whip move. That’s them. And if I had enough swag to do that, I’d probably do that too. I think you guys would think it was funny if we were out there doing what they’re doing. I don’t think that’d be as authentic as it is for them to be who they are. And that’s totally okay. We’ve won in our own way, but we definitely have fun out there.”

The USA might not have aura, but it does have immense talent. 

Manager Mark DeRosa compiled the most star-studded roster the tournament has ever seen. The offense is led by team captain and three-time MVP Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Bobby Witt Jr., and Bryce Harper. And the pitching staff featured the reigning Cy Young award winners from each league in Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, alongside a lethal bullpen arm in Mason Miller. Twenty-one of the 30 players on USA’s roster have been MLB All-Stars, a total that led all teams in the tournament. 

USA is a juggernaut. After Sunday’s win over the Dominican Republic, USA advanced to the WBC final and will play the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Italy and Venezuela. As far as the Americans are concerned, they’re letting their winning pedigree speak for itself.

“Japan plays a certain game. America plays a certain game. Latin American countries play a certain game,” Harper said. “We’re all in this tournament feeding off of playing a great game, and that’s what makes our game so great, is there’s so many different cultures that play this game.

“I can’t dance a lick like Tatis can, but I have fun playing this game. So I think it’s such a storyline for all you guys, compared to us. We’re just going out there and enjoying the game that we play, and that’s kind of how we feel.”

It’s fascinating that Harper, of all people, is on the team that’s receiving criticism for not showing enough emotion. Back when he won National League Rookie of the Year in 2012, Harper received backlash for playing the game with intensity and passion. He often challenged America’s traditional unwritten rules and tried to make the game exciting with emphatic bat flips and his signature fiery competitiveness. 

“Latin American countries play with a lot of flair, a lot of energy,” he said. “And I love watching it because that’s how I played when I was younger. I got in trouble for it.”

Harper used to be bold. He played with different colored bats and unique styles of cleats. He smeared way too much eye-black on his cheeks, starting from just underneath his eyes and going all the way down to his neck. He used it as war paint. In 2024, after hitting a home run in the MLB London Series against the Mets, Harper hit a soccer-style knee slide on the turf, complete with his arms wide open while pumping up the crowd. 

But, about 10–15 years ago, that display of emotion wasn’t popular. MLB told him he couldn’t use gray bats, he couldn’t use eye-black. Eventually, now entering his 15th season in the major leagues, he stopped playing the game with as much passion and flair. Harper said he doesn’t really miss doing that stuff, because it wasn’t fun getting yelled at for showing his personality. 

“I kind of got pounded for it,” Harper said. “It got beat out of me a little bit, where I didn’t want to do it anymore. The game has changed, and I like that. I love the way that Ronald Acuña [Jr.] plays the game. I love the way that Tatis goes about it. [Shohei] Ohtani, obviously, brings his style of the game, too. Everybody has their certain style from different countries, and that’s why baseball is the greatest game in the world, because you bring so many different styles together, especially in this tournament. And it’s so much fun to watch.”

At times, it’s been difficult to understand the USA’s identity. Players salute each other in celebration. They’ve talked about how meaningful the tournament is to them after the sacrifices that service men and women have gone through to defend the country. While videos of Dominican Republic players dancing and being goofy in the clubhouse went viral, Team USA players were shown quietly listening to former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill delivering a pregame speech. 

As far as USA players are concerned, though, whatever they’re doing is working. They don’t need to match or copy someone else’s identity to win. 

“What we’re good at on our side is, if the crowd wants to be big and loud and all that, we will keep that steady heartbeat until the pop happens,” Crow-Armstrong said. “The Gunnar homer, the Roman [Anthony] homer. David Bednar getting out of a big inning. [Garrett] Whitlock shutting it down — three up, three down. I think we just pick our spots. You get to see us play our style, and that’s OK.

“We’ve carried ourselves this tournament the way that we wanted to, and that is feeling like we’re the best team in this tournament, the best team in the world.”

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports