'Acuña was our hero tonight': Venezuela heads to rivalry game undefeated

MIAMI -- With their ticket already punched to the semifinals, it might have been natural for Venezuela’s players to begin looking ahead at Wednesday’s rivalry game against the Dominican Republic.

Not Ronald Acuña Jr., whose focus was squarely on Nicaragua on Monday night as his team tried to preserve its undefeated record in the World Baseball Classic.

Acuña was in the middle of the action for each of the first three runs in Venezuela’s 4-0 win over Nicaragua at loanDepot park, using his speed and power to lead its third win in three games in Pool D. He finished 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base.

“That’s part of my game,” Acuña said. “Sometimes I can hit a homer, sometimes I can steal a base, sometimes I can play defense. I can do it all.”

The rest of the lineup had only two hits – the bottom six hitters in the lineup went 0-for-21 collectively – though seven Venezuela pitchers combined to throw the sixth shutout in the country’s WBC history, tying Puerto Rico for the most ever.

“If you have pitching and defense, you have a lot of chances to win games,” Venezuela manager Omar López said. “You just need one hit, a homer, or somebody to step up and be the hero. Acuña was our hero tonight.”

Now Venezuela can focus on Wednesday’s highly anticipated showdown with the Dominican Republic (8 p.m. ET, FS1), one in which the losing team must face defending champion Japan in the quarterfinals.

“It is important to manage the anxiety, the adrenaline,” Acuña said. “We're going to have 40,000 people here at the stadium. There is a classic rivalry between both countries and we hope to win. … We just have to control our emotions.”

Dusty Baker’s Nicaragua team finished the tournament 0-4 – the country’s second straight winless Classic – forcing them to wait until the next WBC to take aim at their first-ever victory. Having finished last in the pool, Nicaragua will have to go through a World Baseball Classic Qualifier to participate in the next tournament.

“I don't feel much joy and happiness after a loss, but the teams that beat us had excellent pitching,” Baker said. “They also had good hitting, especially the Venezuelans and the Dominican Republic. We're not where they are yet. Hopefully in the near future we'll catch up to them.”

Acuña got things started in the first, drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second before advancing to third on a throwing error. Jackson Chourio – making his first appearance in the Classic after missing the first two games with a left hand contusion – hit a sacrifice fly to score Acuña for the game’s first run.

Venezuela doubled its lead in the third on Acuña’s first home run of the WBC, a two-out, 402-foot shot to right-center field. His RBI single in the fifth stretched the lead to 3-0; to that point, Acuña’s two hits were his team’s only hits.

“Acuna does damage all the time,” Baker said. “This guy's a combination of speed and power. He's a great outfielder. I was surprised at how well he still ran after the injuries; I didn't think that he was going to run considering the season's right around the corner, but that's how he plays.”

Nicaragua actually out-hit Venezuela, 7-5, in the game, but it continued to struggle with runners in scoring position (1-for-6), continuing its tournament-long trend. Three Nicaragua errors also helped Venezuela, as two of the four runs were unearned.

“I told them to go home, hold your head up,” Baker said. “Feel proud that you represented your country and you will be better in the future.”