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Shohei Ohtani and his Japanese teammates will not repeat as champions of the World Baseball Classic after falling apart against Venezuela in the quarterfinal round.
Ohtani’s third home run of the tournament was blown as Japan saw its 11-game WBC winning streak snapped.
Wilyer Abreu hit a go-ahead three-run homer after Maikel García sparked the comeback with a two-run homer, and Venezuela beat the defending champions 8-5 on Saturday night.
Venezuela reached its first WBC semifinals since 2009 and secured a spot in the six-nation field for the 2028 Olympic baseball tournament, along with the United States and the Dominican Republic.
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Venezuela will face undefeated Italy on Monday, a day after the United States plays the Dominican Republic.
Abreu gave Venezuela a 7-5 lead when he homered off loser Hiromi Itoh in the sixth, driving a 2-1 four-seam fastball 409 feet to right field for his first home run of the tournament. Ezequiel Tovar made the score 8-5 in the eighth, leading off with a double and then scoring on a throwing error by Atsuki Taneichi on a pickoff attempt.
Ohtani, the 2023 WBC MVP, led off the bottom of the first by lifting a 2-1 slider from Ranger Suárez 427 feet to center after Ronald Acuña Jr. homered on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s second pitch, driving a fastball 401 feet to right-center for his second WBC home run.
SHOHEI OHTANI OPENS WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC WITH EXPLOSIVE GRAND SLAM AS JAPAN ANNIHILATES TAIWAN
Shohei Ohtani #16 of Team Japan reacts to a strike out in the seventh inning during the game between Venezuela and Japan at CreditDepot Park on March 14, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Gene Wang – Media Capture/Getty Images)
Enmanuel De Jesús pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Daniel Palencia got the save, ending Japan’s fate by getting Ohtani to fly out for the final out.
Japan led 5-2 after a four-run third in which Shota Morishita, who replaced the injured Seiya Suzuki in center field, hit a three-run homer to break the tie against Suarez. The veteran left-hander who earned a win in a group stage game against the Netherlands pitched 2 2/3 innings Saturday, allowing three hits, five runs and two home runs.
García hit a home run on the eighth pitch against Chihiro Sumida to bring Venezuela within 5-4 in the fifth.
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World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed four hits and two runs and struck out five in four innings.
