Team USA has lost the final of the World Baseball Classic to Venezuela on a catastrophic night for some of the all-time greats of the game in Miami.
It had been a night of disaster for so long for the Americans. Their brutally powerful lineup had fallen deathly silent, Aaron Judge again wilting on the big stage and striking out three times. Through seven innings, they only had two hits.
But then Bryce Harper’s home run was a swing of beauty, a missile over the center field wall off Andres Machado to tie the game 2-2 in the eighth.
From there, such a huge momentum shift made it feel like there would only be one winner. But incredibly there was another twist and it was in Venezuela’s favor.
Eugenio Suarez sent Garrett Whitlock deep into left field after Javier Sanoja was walked and had then stolen second. Sanoja rounded third and made it home for a 3-2 lead and there was an explosion in the Venezuela dugout.
Moments later, as Roman Anthony struck out, those celebrations reignited once again, this time for good.
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