World Classic 2026: Keys to Venezuela’s victory

Venezuela’s pitching and the hitting of Wilmer Abreu and Eugenio Suárez tipped the balance in their favor against the powerful United States team.

And Little Red Riding Hood ate the wolf. Venezuela conquered Miami and won (3-2) its first World Classic against a United States that seemed to be resurrected, but they were only the last breaths before dying. Team USA was stunned by the chivalry of the South American team and its ability to react in the final stretch of the match.

In the end the important thing is how it ends and not how it begins. Venezuela fell in its two preparation games against Houston and Washington and the alarms had gone off, doubts began to arise about whether this team would be able to achieve the goal that had eluded them for 20 years, but they finally accomplished it, despite the setback in the group stage against the Dominican Republic and the scare in the eighth inning with Bryce Harper’s home run.

Rodríguez’s pride

Pride played in this match. Eduardo Rodriguez had his arm torn off by the Dominican Republic in his only previous start, but found redemption in the final against the other giant. During 4.1 innings he only allowed one hit and had four strikeouts. Rodríguez paved the way to believe in his own. Can you imagine the injection of vitality he gave to his teammates by striking out Aaron Judge twice?

Abreu and Suárez, two Goliath ‘killers’

Wilyer Abreu and Eugenio Suarez became the new national heroes of Venezuela. In the case of Abreu, he only likes to apply the lethal injection with his wood to Goliath-sized teams. He ‘killed’ Japan with his home run that turned the scoreboard and transformed the nightmare into light, taking his team to the semifinals and tonight against the United States he shook Miami again with a home run against Nolan McLean. While Suárez ripped the ball against Italy, although he was not a Goliath, he unexpectedly played as if he were one, and hit the double in the victory against the USA.

Recovering after a hook to the liver

When Bryce Harper sent the ball to the other side of center field it caused a deafening roar. The United States had woken up, they returned a change of speed to right-hander Andres Machado at 109.4 miles per hour. Venezuela looked dwarfed. Harper was beating his chest, all his teammates came out to congratulate him and it was believed that the somersault could happen. However, Machado did not sink and found the strength to strike out Aaron Judge and close the episode.

That feeling was transmitted to his team at the end of the ninth and that is where Suárez pushed the race that puts them in Olympus. The rest is history. Daniel Palencia was in charge of placing the Venezuelan seal.