National pride fuels Venezuela to first World Baseball Classic championship

Team unity and national pride powered Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic title with a 3-2 upset of the United States on Tuesday, players said after completing a dramatic championship run.

Eugenio Suarez doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning, and Venezuela's pitchers limited the powerful U.S. lineup to three hits to seal the country's first WBC crown.

"We're not just teammates, we're family," Suarez said after the game.

"That's why we play with passion, with love, because we feel the jersey. We feel our country in front of us."

Venezuela's title run included a comeback win over defending champion Japan in the quarterfinals and another rally to beat surprise semifinalist Italy before toppling the U.S. in front of a loud, largely pro-Venezuela crowd in Miami.

"Our country right now, they are going to celebrate for about a week," manager Omar Lopez said during the medal ceremony.

Lopez said the coaching staff spent much of Monday night preparing for the final after defeating Italy to reach the championship game for the first time.

"We went back to floor number seven and we started to study USA until almost 3 in the morning so we could win tonight. And we did it."

Venezuela held a 2-0 lead before Bryce Harper tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a 432-foot, two-run homer off reliever Andres Machado.

But Venezuela responded immediately. Suarez drove in Javier Sanoja with the tiebreaking run in the ninth, and Daniel Palencia closed out the victory with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

The loss was another painful one for Team USA, which fell in the WBC final for the second straight tournament. The Americans won the title in 2017 before losing 3-2 to Japan in the 2023 final.

WBC Most Valuable Player Maikel Garcia said the title was deeply meaningful for his baseball-loving nation.

"I'm proud of this group, proud of this coaching staff and these players and proud to be representing 30 million Venezuelans back in my country," he said through a translator.

"Next time you do a ranking of baseball teams, Venezuela is number one."

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Stephen Coates)