Spirited Venezuela rallies in 9th to upend USA for 1st Classic championship
MIAMI – Eugenio Suárez flung his head back and looked up into the rafters. The sound bouncing off loanDepot park’s steel roof washed over the Venezuelan designated hitter as he held out his arms and motioned for more. More noise. More love. More joy.
The defining storylines of the '26 Classic
The World Baseball Classic is now over, with Venezuela the last team standing as the newest champions. But when the confetti clears and we look back at the tournament, what moments will stand out? In 2017, it’s Adam Jones’ leaping grab that first comes to mind. The 2023 edition saw
MVP Garcia headlines 2026 Classic All-Tournament Team
Venezuela defeated the United States in the 2026 World Baseball Classic title game, securing the country's first Classic win and bookending a tournament for the ages. At the tournament's conclusion, the All-Tournament team was announced, with votes coming from a global panel of broadcasters and media members who have covered
Spring Breakout begins tomorrow! Here are all 30 rosters
The third annual edition of Spring Breakout, which takes place Thursday through Sunday, features hundreds of the top prospects from around the game. The rosters are stacked, highlighted by 55 players on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list and more than 500 of the 900 players on organizational Top 30
This clutch steal led to Venezuela's Classic-winning run
Eugenio Suárez’s outstretched arms pointing emphatically toward the sky while standing on second base will be a lasting image in World Baseball Classic history. It was Suárez’s tiebreaking RBI double in the top of the ninth inning that helped deliver Venezuela an emotional 3-2 win over Team USA for its
Maikel Garcia bursts onto world stage with Classic MVP Award
MIAMI -- With a breakout season for the Royals last year, Maikel Garcia made his name known around MLB. Now his name is resonating on the world stage. The 26-year-old infielder was named MVP of the World Baseball Classic after Venezuela defeated the tournament favorite USA with a thrilling 3-2
Untouchable as Venezuela's closer, Palencia shuts the door with straight heat
Daniel Palencia blew a 99.7 mph fastball past Team USA's Roman Anthony and chucked his glove to the skies. He had just secured Venezuela's first World Baseball Classic title, bookending a dominant run as his country's closer in the 2026 WBC. After Venezuela took the lead in the ninth inning
Game-used items from Venezuela's Classic victory heading to Hall
Venezuela’s triumph at the 2026 World Baseball Classic will be celebrated in Cooperstown. Following their first WBC title, Venezuela is sending a slew of items to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.
Acuña, Garcia just two of the stars to hail from 'The Land of Ballplayers'
This story was originally published in April 2024. Team Venezuela, led by some of the names you'll read about here, won the 2026 World Baseball Classic for the first time.
Held to 3 hits in final, USA's star-studded bats unable to break Classic funk
MIAMI -- It was one of the most talented, accomplished baseball lineups ever assembled. And it managed two hits against Eduardo Rodriguez.
Who has the most loaded Spring Breakout roster? We ranked the Top 10
The preliminary player pools have become the final rosters, and now we have a better understanding of which prospects will next take the Spring Breakout stage. In two short years, the Spring Breakout alumni list is already a doozy, filled with a Cy Young winner, multiple Rookies of the Year,
Players who have won the World Series and World Baseball Classic
Winning a World Series is cool. So is winning a World Baseball Classic. How about both? In the 2026 Classic, Venezuela was victorious over the United States, securing the country's first WBC title. In the process, five World Series winners also added a WBC title to their their résumés: Ronald
No stranger to big moments, Suárez forever a Venezuelan hero
Unpredictable as these things are, Eugenio Suárez's go-ahead RBI double in the ninth inning of the championship game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic -- the hit that won it all for Team Venezuela, 3-2, over Team USA, on Tuesday night -- was a long time coming.
At long last, Salvy adds World Baseball Classic title to his trophy case
MIAMI – For 17 years, Venezuela, one of the best countries at producing big league ballplayers, had failed to even reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals. That meant Salvador Perez hadn’t either. The Royals catcher has lined up for his country at every WBC since 2013, when he was just
Here's who won each World Baseball Classic MVP
Venezuela made history on Tuesday night as it captured its first World Baseball Classic title in a 3-2 win over Team USA. There were no shortage of crucial contributions, but Venezuela's triumph would not have been possible without Maikel Garcia. That's why he was named WBC Most Valuable Player. Here
USA-Dominican Republic semifinal sets TV viewership record for Classic
The TV viewership for Sunday’s star-studded semifinal between the USA and the Dominican Republic at loanDepot park in Miami made World Baseball Classic history. An audience of 7.369 million viewers took in Team USA’s thrilling 2-1 win on FS1 and FOX Deportes. That makes it the most-watched WBC broadcast in
Acuña making up for lost World Series in World Baseball Classic
MIAMI -- "When we went to the World Series," Ronald Acuña Jr. said earlier this week, "I wasn't there. Thank God I'm living this great moment in my career." When the Atlanta Braves won the World Series in 2021, Acuña was reduced to spectator. A torn ACL had relegated the
Altuve shows his support for Venezuela during Classic title run
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Venezuela’s biggest fan in the World Baseball Classic will be back in his seats behind home plate on Tuesday night, cheering on his fellow countrymen in the championship game against the U.S. at loanDepot park in Miami (7 CT on FOX). Jose Altuve, the Astros’
What are the biggest AL West takeaways from Spring Training?
We are about one week away from Opening Day, and the final rosters are starting to take shape. So we asked the MLB.com beat writers who cover the American League West clubs about what they’ve seen in camp to this point.
Murakami homers in first game back from Classic: 'It was perfect'
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The World Baseball Classic ended in disappointment for Munetaka Murakami. His first day back with the White Sox went quite differently. “It was perfect,” Murakami said through a translator. “Just perfect.” Murakami was describing his first Cactus League home run, a fifth-inning solo shot against Athletics right-hander
You need to see what Adolis did at bat -- and you really need to see his truck
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Adolis García is a big man with big power and an even bigger truck. “It’s like a monster truck,” he said recently. He wants to bring it all to Philly this summer.
The 'crazy hour' dance that has carried Venezuela through the Classic
Before each game in the World Baseball Classic, Team Venezuela gathers in a circle in its dugout. As pitcher Eduard Bazardo pounds upon a special drum – known as el tambor – the players take turns jumping into and out of the circle to show off their moves. This isn’t
Cole slated to make spring debut today against Red Sox
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will see his first Grapefruit League action of the spring on Wednesday, when he’s scheduled to start against the Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The right-hander is slated to throw one inning in his first game action since undergoing Tommy