Star-studded Team USA again comes up short in WBC final loss

MIAMI — Venezuela’s greatest baseball players were in full jubilation, waving flags, distributing hugs and shedding tears while reveling in one of the biggest athletic achievements in the nation’s history — and Team USA couldn’t help but watch.

As Venezuela celebrated the 3-2 victory that made them champions of the World Baseball Classic for the first time on Tuesday night, many of the stars that lined the United States’ roster — men who fell in love with the tournament three years ago and made it their mission to avenge a second-place finish — looked on from the dugout railing and said nothing. For 16 days, they formed one of the most talented rosters ever assembled and basked in the uniqueness of coming together. Then the end crashed down on them.

“For some reason, this WBC has become a tidal wave of emotion for a lot of guys,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “You get them in the room representing their country, coming together for 2½ weeks, the buy-in, it’s infectious in there.”

Team USA’s lineup was billed as quite possibly the greatest ever, in any setting, when this tournament began, a thought validated by two exhibition contests that saw it amass 29 runs on 33 hits. But the U.S. never seemed to hit full throttle when the games began to matter. It dropped its fourth pool-play game, getting shut down by Italian-American pitcher Michael Lorenzen, then snuck past Canada in the quarterfinals and edged out a star-studded Dominican Republic team in the semis on the strength of two solo home runs.

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Team USA’s offense lagged even more so in the finale.

By the time the eighth inning rolled around, the U.S. trailed 2-0 and had been held scoreless in 17 of their previous 18 innings. Then Bryce Harper, struggling throughout the tournament despite hitting between Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr., came through with a two-run homer that tied the score and made it seem as if the U.S. would pull off a late rally to finish the job. It never happened.

“What a moment,” Harper said of his home run, which was quickly erased by Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the top of the ninth. “Obviously, I love the opportunity, I love the chance, super grateful for it. I thought if we tied it up right there, we had a really good chance to win that game. But Venezuela and their pitching was great today.”

It began with Eduardo Rodríguez, the veteran left-hander who worked the corners with his five-pitch mix while recording 13 outs and holding the U.S. to one hit. Five relievers followed him out of the bullpen, the last of whom was Chicago Cubs closer Daniel Palencia, who was appearing in his second straight game and shut things down in the ninth once more. Kyle Schwarber struck out, Gunnar Henderson popped out and Roman Anthony swung through a 99.7 mph fastball to end it.

Outside of Harper’s home run, the U.S. did not place a runner in scoring position all night.

“They made their pitches,” said Judge, Team USA’s captain. “They were working the corners on both sides, and then, when we didn’t get a pitch, we either popped it up or hit it into the ground. Stuff like that can’t happen. When you get a pitch to hit, you got to be able to drive it. If you get one pitch in the game, you got to do something with it. They just went out there and executed their game plan, and we couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

It took time for the U.S. to become fully invested in this tournament, which just concluded its sixth installment. It always seemed to mean more in baseball-loving countries such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Japan and Korea. Winning it all in 2017 helped, but losing in 2023 — when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout, ending another championship game by a 3-2 score — drove American interest to a different place.

Judge signed up first, setting the tone among the position players. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes committed next, paving the way for the U.S. to assemble by far the best rotation in this tournament’s history. By the time the WBC began, the U.S. had clearly built a deep pitching staff, a loaded lineup and a balanced roster. It had the desire to avenge a prior loss. But once again, the Americans came up just short.

Hours after it was over, Harper once again expressed his desire to play in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, if major leaguers are allowed to participate.

“I hope so,” he said. “I really do. I really hope so.”

For now, though, the American players will all go back to their respective spring training camps and prepare to start Major League Baseball’s regular season in a little more than a week.

“I’m always fired up for the Yankees,” Judge said, “but I’m still pissed about this. So, I’m looking forward to the next time we get to throw on the red, white and blue and take care of business.”