Venezuela Beats Italy, Advances to WBC Final vs. U.S.

Maikel Garcia’s go-ahead single in the seventh inning lifted Venezuela to a 4-2 victory over Italy Monday in Miami, sending the South American nation to its first World Baseball Classic final. Venezuela plated three runs in the seventh on four consecutive two-out hits and will meet host United States for the title Tuesday night; the U.S. reached the final with a 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic in the first semifinal. Italy, which had been unbeaten in the tournament, took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when JJ D’Orazio drew a bases-loaded walk and Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring groundout. Italy appeared eight outs from an upset before Venezuela rallied against reliever Michael Lorenzen. The decisive seventh began with Gleyber Torres drawing a leadoff walk. Lorenzen struck out Wilyer Abreu and William Contreras before Jackson Chourio singled, advancing pinch-runner Andres Gimenez to third on a hit-and-run. Ronald Acuna Jr. then hit a grounder to the third-base side of short; Sam Antonacci fielded it but his throw to first bounced, allowing Gimenez to score. Garcia followed with a single to left that scored Chourio, and Luis Arraez added an insurance run with a single that brought home Acuna. Angel Zerpa was credited with the win after recording the final two outs of the sixth. Eduard Bazardo and Andres Machado each threw a perfect inning, and Daniel Palencia closed with his second save, striking out two in a 1-2-3 ninth. Starter Keider Montero allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Garcia and Torres had two hits apiece. Italy starter Aaron Nola yielded one run over four innings, and Zach Dezenzo had two hits for Italy. Venezuela will now chase its first WBC championship against a U.S. team seeking its second.