The matchup between Venezuela and Team USA in the final of the 2026 World Baseball Classic has certainly met the hype, with the two best teams of the competition fighting to the death for tournament supremacy. Venezuela took the lead in the third and put up another run on the board in the fifth to go up by two runs, 2-0, but in the eighth inning, Bryce Harper brought Team USA back from the dead with a game-tying two-run homer.

But if there's someone who's likely to answer the call for Venezuela, it's veteran slugger Eugenio Suarez. On the very next inning, Suarez regained the lead for Venezuela with an RBI double off of Garrett Whitlock, giving his team a 3-2 lead with the game in its closing moments.

Venezuela are three outs away from stunning the world and becoming the champion of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. However, Team USA has Kyle Schwarber, Alex Bregman, and Roman Anthony due up, and those three can certainly make something out of nothing.

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Eugenio Suarez, Venezuela on the precipice of World Baseball Classic glory

Venezuela had a few talented MLB players on the roster, but they weren't exactly among the chief favorites pundits pegged to be a likely competitor for the World Baseball Classic crown. But they have been slaying one giant after another, taking care of the reigning WBC champion Japan and then the only unbeaten team in the 2026 WBC (at that point) in Italy.

Now, Team USA landed squarely in Venezuela's crosshairs, and Venezuela ends up being the last team standing in the competition. They took a 3-2 win, with Suarez's double being the difference, and USA is now denied another WBC title by a team deemed as the underdog.

This is the pinnacle of baseball development in Venezuela, and it's fitting that Suarez was the one to hit them into glory.