It was a battle of the relative underdogs in this semifinal, Venezuela appearing in this round for the first time in 17 years after eliminating tournament favorites and defending champions Japan in the quarters, while Italy made its first ever appearance this late in the tournament. Italy rode their patient, disciplined approach this far in the tournament, but could never come through with the big hit tonight against a transcendent Venezuela bullpen, allowing Arepa Power to come from behind in the seventh and punch their ticket to the World Baseball Classic Championship Game against Team USA.
Semifinals Game 2: Venezuela 4, Italy 2
Michael Lorenzen was supposed to start this game for Team Italy, but manager Francisco Cervelli had a last minute flash of inspiration and switched to Aaron Nola, hoping the Phillies veteran’s experience could carry the day against the dangerous Venezuela lineup. Maikel Garica was the game’s first baserunner, reaching on a one-out bunt single in the first, but he was doubled off at first by a cannon throw from center fielder Jakob Marsee on a Luis Arraez fly out. A more conventional double play ground ball ended the bottom half after Jon Berti reached with a one-out single.
Venezuela starter Keider Montero was on a strict 45-pitch limit after pitching twice over the previous five days, and it became clear in the second why his manager had such a short leash. He gave up a one-out single to Zach Dezenzo and then walked the next three batters he faced, putting Italy on the board, 1-0, and ending his outing at just 34 pitches. Therefore, it was up to a Venezuela bullpen taxed by their efforts against Japan in the quarterfinals to pitch the final 7.2 innings of this game. Dante Nori then rolled over a grounder to the right side resulting in Italy’s second run to score on a fielder’s choice out at second.
Eugenio Suárez signed a one-year deal to return to the Reds this offseason and he finally stamped his mark on this tournament. His 325 home runs are third-most all time for a Venezuelan player behind Miguel Cabrera and Andrés Galarraga, and he did what he does best in the fourth inning, pulling an 0-1 knuckle curve from Nola into the seats in left to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
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The game slowed to a relative lull for the next two innings, neither team managing more than a single here, a walk there, a hit batsman there. In the sixth, Italy created their best chance to score since the second, loading the bases on a Dezenzo single, J.J. D’Orazio intentional walk, and Nori single. However, Venezuela reliever Angel Zerpa — yet to give up a run in four relief appearances this tournament — struck out Sam Antonacci to leave all three ducks on the pond.
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Originally scheduled Italy starter Lorenzen did come on in relief of Nola after the fourth, and Cervelli’s decision to flip-flop his pitchers appeared paid off with a scoreless fifth and sixth. That is, until there were two outs in the seventh. He issued a leadoff walk to Gleyber Torres but then tallied a quick pair of strikeouts to pull close to escaping the jam. However, he surrendered a pair of ground ball singles to Jackson Chourio and Ronald Acuña Jr., the latter plating pinch-runner Andrés Giménez as the tying run. That prompted Cervelli to emerge from the Italy dugout, but it appeared that Lorenzen managed to talk his manager into staying in the game after a lengthy mound visit, and that’s a decision he and his manager instantly regretted. Lorenzen yielded another pair of two-out singles to Garcia and Arraez to give Venezuela their first lead of the game, 4-2.
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From there, the credit belongs to Venezuela’s heavily-used bullpen. Things looked like they could get out of hand after Montero was chased from the game having recorded just four outs. However, Ricardo Sánchez, Luinder Avila, Zerpa, Eduard Bazardo, Andrés Machado, and Daniel Palencia issued a relief gem, tossing 7.2 scoreless frames with just three singles and two walks allowed. Palencia in particular was untouchable, striking out the final two hitters on 99 mph fastballs to lock down the victory, 4-2.
Box Score
Just like that, we have our WBC Championship Game set, and what a matchup it’s shaping up to be. Both lineups for Team USA and Venezuela are packed with All-Stars, both teams possessing bona fide game-winners. Team USA has the distinct advantage of a day’s rest after downing the Dominican Republic, 2-1, on Sunday, while Venezuela’s bullpen is taxed after two heavy usage elimination games in three days.
USA manager Mark DeRosa selected Mets sophomore pitcher Nolan McLean to start the game despite the hard-throwing 24-year-old having given up three runs in three innings on a pair of home runs in his team’s 8-6 loss to Italy in the final game of pool play. Venezuela will turn to former Red Sox/current Diamondbacks southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, who could be in for a stern test against Aaron Judge and the rest of the Team USA offense. First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EDT with the broadcast on FOX.
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