Ohtani’s Japan knocked out of WBC by Venezuela in quarterfinal upset
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Shohei Ohtani and his Japanese teammates will not repeat as World Baseball Classic champions after losing against Venezuela in the quarterfinal round.
Ohtani’s third home run of the tournament came to naught as Japan’s 11-match WBC winning streak ended.
Wilyer Abreu hit a three-pointer after Maikel Garcia sparked a comeback with a two-point field goal and Venezuela defeated the defending champions 8-5 on Saturday night.
Venezuela reached its first WBC semifinal since 2009 and clinched its place in the six-nation field alongside the United States and the Dominican Republic in the 2028 Olympic baseball tournament.
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A day after the United States faces the Dominicans, Venezuela will face undefeated Italy on Monday.
Abreu struck out the batter Hiromi Itoh in the sixth to give Venezuela a 7-5 lead, driving a 2-1 four-seam fastball 409 feet to right for her first home run of the tournament. Ezequiel Tovar made it 8-5 in the eighth, led off with a double and then scored on Atsuki Taneichi’s throwing error on the go-ahead return.
Ohtani, the 2023 WBC MVP, led off the bottom of the first inning by lofting a 2-1 slider from Ranger Suárez 427 feet to center after Ronald Acuña Jr.’s homer from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the second inning, then drove a fastball 401 feet to right-center for his second home run in the WBC.
SHOHEI OHTANI OPENS THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC WITH AN EXPLOSIVE GRAND SLAM AS JAPAN DESTROYS TAIWAN
Shohei Ohtani #16 of Team Japan reacts to a strike call in the seventh inning of the game between Venezuela and Japan at CreditDepot Park on March 14, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Gene Wang – Media Capture/Getty Images)
Enmanuel De Jesus pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win and Daniel Palencia made the save, allowing Ohtani to lead off the final out and end Japan’s fate.
Japan took a 5-2 lead after a four-run third when Shota Morishita, who replaced the injured Seiya Suzuki in center field, hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Suárez. The veteran left-hander, who earned a win in the group stage game against the Netherlands, had three hits, five runs and two home runs in 2 2/3 innings on Saturday.
Garcia grounded out against Chihiro Sumida in the eighth pitch and gave Venezuela a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
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Yamamoto, the World Series MVP, allowed four hits and two runs while striking out five in four innings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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