Maikel Garcia’s go-ahead single in the seventh inning sent Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic final, beating Italy 4-2 on Monday in Miami.
Venezuela fashioned a three-run seventh inning with four straight two-out hits and will face host nation United States for the title on Tuesday night in Miami. The US reached the final by beating the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the first semifinal.
Venezuela is chasing its first WBC championship; the US is seeking its second. Both teams went 3-1 in pool play and won their opening two knockout games.
The loss was Italy’s first in the tournament. Italy had made a Cinderella run to the semifinals by going 4-0 in pool play and defeating Puerto Rico 8-6 in a Houston quarterfinal on Saturday.
Italy jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second when JJ D’Orazio drew a bases-loaded walk and Dante Nori hit into a run-scoring groundout. They were eight outs from an upset when Venezuela rallied against reliever Michael Lorenzen.
Gleyber Torres drew a leadoff walk in the seventh before Lorenzen struck out Wilyer Abreu and William Contreras. Jackson Chourio then singled, advancing pinch-runner Andres Gimenez to third on a hit-and-run. Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grounder to the third-base side of short; Sam Antonacci fielded it but his throw to first bounced, allowing Acuna to reach and 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.
Venezuela starter Keider Montero allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Garcia and Torres had two hits apiece. Italy starter Aaron Nola surrendered one run over four innings, and Zach Dezenzo had two hits for Italy.