In partnership with

If you haven’t been enjoying every second of the World Baseball Classic like us, you are missing out. This tournament has brought all the motions, and it all comes to one final matchup.

Let’s recap the semifinals from the past two days before what is bound to be an incredible championship game tonight between the United States and Venezuela!

Semifinals Recap

The quarterfinals and semifinals of the World Baseball Classic came and went with so much thrilling action going down at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

We’ve had a crew of JB staff at the games to take in the atmosphere and passion of the fanbases. Make sure to keep up with all our social media pages for the best content you’ll find this MLB season!

United States vs. Dominican Republic

This is easily the matchup of the tournament; no doubt about it. Star power, anticipation, the whole nine yards.

The pitching matchup, at least on paper, seemed to heavily favor the United States, who sent Paul Skenes opposite the Dominican’s Luis Severino. However, we’d argue that Severino had the upper hand in this one.

Especially after Junior Caminero got the Dominican Republic on the board first with a missile off of Skenes in the second inning. The record-setting 15th round-tripper hit by the DR in the tournament.

Sure, Severino only went 3.1 innings, but he struck out six batters and was blowing away U.S. bats with his sinker sitting 98.1 mph and his sweeper that got three whiffs on four swings. The downside to his short outing was the traffic against him, particularly in the third inning.

He absolutely put former teammate Aaron Judge to shame with runners on second and third and one out, before buckling Kyle Schwarber for a backward K to end the inning, but it was a taxing frame at that.

Manager Albert Pujols let him back out there for the fourth, but Gunnar Henderson belted a game-tying homer to lead off the inning, then Will Smith clubbed a 100.9 mph line out before Severino’s day came to a close.

We get the decision to stick with Severino, but it feels like time and time again we see a pitcher empty the clip to get out of a big jam, then get asked to overextend with another inning. That seemed to happen with Severino.

Gregory Soto met a similar fate, however. This time, against Roman Anthony.

This game really had it all, and despite the low-scoring affair, it was tense all night. Traffic for both teams, missed opportunities, fantastic defensive plays aplenty littered this ballgame.

Judge gunned down Fernando Tatis Jr. at third base to end the bottom of the third.

Julio Rodriguez later got the D.R.’s lick back by robbing Judge of a home run in the top of the fifth.

This game remained locked at a 2-1 United States advantage throughout, with both bullpens keeping the opposition off balance. Thus, setting up for a controversial ending. With Mason Miller looking a little leaky with two outs in the ninth, Geraldo Perdomo appeared to have walked to put the winning run aboard with Tatis coming up.

Well, umm…

Why wasn’t the Automated Balls and Strikes system not permitted for this tournament again? This isn’t to say the Dominican Republic would even still have had a challenge at its disposal for that call, but it’s hard to fathom a game of this magnitude being allowed to end on such a blown strike call.

The D.R. had a chance against David Bednar in the seventh, but he struck out Tatis and Ketel Marte with runners on second and third to slam the door. That was the situation that doomed them more, but it’s impossible to know what Tatis had in store for us had he gotten the chance to be a hero in the ninth.

Still, despite both these high-powered offenses being stymied, this game did not fall short of expectations. If anything, it exceeded them because there was limited scoring.

The headlines that actually moves markets

Tired of missing the trades that actually move markets?

Every weekday, you’ll get a 5-minute Elite Trade Club newsletter covering the top stories, market-moving headlines, and the hottest stocks — delivered before the opening bell.

Whether you’re a casual trader or a serious investor, it’s everything you need to know before making your next move.

Join 200K+ traders who read our 5-minute premarket report to see which stocks are setting up for the day, what news is breaking, and where the smart money’s moving.

Click Here to Join Now

^{_{By joining, you’ll receive Elite Trade Club emails and select partner insights. See Privacy Policy.}}

Venezuela vs. Italy

Entering Monday night, the only team to dispatch Team Italy was the Los Angeles Angels almost two weeks ago.

For a while, it looked like that’d remain the case through the semifinal. Italy chased Venezuela’s starter, Keider Montero, from the game in the second inning. They put up two runs against him, drew three walks, and struck out just once across 1.1 innings.

For a while, however, that looked to be enough. Italy had their ace, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola, on the mound. Though he only pitched four innings, his lone blemish was a solo home run off the bat of Eugenio Suárez.

Through six, that 2-1 score held tough. But, in the seventh, Venezuela repeated history from their dramatic win over Team Japan: they rallied late and snatched the souls of their opposition. The difference here was instead of a monumental home run, Italy got death by four singles.

Gleyber Torres walked, then Wilyer Abreu and William Contreras each struck out against right-hander Michael Lorenzen. With seven outs left in their quest for a WBC title, Venezuela got to work.

Jackson Chourio and Ronald Acuña Jr. both singled, tying the game. Maikel Garcia followed suit, giving Venezuela the lead before Luis Arraez provided some insurance.

This sent the Venezuelan faithful into a state of delirium. If there’s one constant this tournament provides, it’s that the crowds are absolutely electric.

Following this rally, the trio of Eduard Bazardo, Andrés Machado, and Daniel Palencia retired the final nine Italian batters, striking out five and throwing just 33 total pitches in the process — sending Venezuela to its first WBC Championship. They will face off against the United States on Tuesday.

What a game. What a tournament. One more game to go.

Championship Preview 🏆

It all downs to this…Venezuela vs. USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic Title. Let’s go!!!

Team USA is looking to prove the haters wrong. It has been felt and stated by media and fans alike that the USA simply does not care about this tournament the way that other nations do. While that may or may not be true, them winning it all after beating the top two Latin teams would silence that noise.

After giving up multiple homers in Team USA’s only loss in the tournament, Nolan McLean will take the ball in the championship. This will undoubtedly be the biggest moment of the top pitching prospect in baseball’s young career.

Venezuela has never reached the final game. For such a baseball-rich country, it’s crazy that Venezuela has never made it this far. Their best WBC ever consisted of a fourth-place finish, but they have a real shot to pull this thing off. You know it means so much to this team and their country to have even made it this far to begin with.

Eduardo Rodríguez will get the ball to start things off for Venezuela in this historic game. He got the start in the final game of pool play against the Dominican Republic, allowing a pair of home runs and taking the loss. Like McLean, he’ll look to bounce back when it matters the most.

This is set to be one for the ages, and we simply cannot wait. Stay tuned for all of our reactions and analysis to the World Baseball Classic Championship!

Health That Fits Real Life

Most of us don’t need another routine. We just need something that works. AG1 Next Gen supports gut health, fills common nutrient gaps, and helps maintain steady energy with one daily scoop. Simple, fast, and easy to stick with. Start with AG1 today and get bonus Travel Packs in your Welcome Kit.

Get started today

Just Baseball Discord

We have reached nearly 1,000 members of our Discord in just one year and expect another awesome season with our community!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest merchandise features retro logos, tv-inspired designs, and the anti wave social club!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!