Eugenio Suarez, the man who hit the game-winning RBI double to lift Venezuela over Team USA in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final, tapped into his faith during his post-game interview. 

“I mean, what can I say about this? It’s amazing. God is good, all the glory is for the Lord Jesus. He was with us the whole time,” Suarez told FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal after being asked his emotions following the 3-2 win over the U.S. 

“We have to glorify, put his name in front of everything. Nobody believed in Venezuela, but now we [won] the championship today. This is a celebration for all [of Venezuela].”

Suárez shared his faith on Monday night after Venezuela came from behind to defeat Italy, when he hit a solo home run. But he knew the job wasn’t finished with one more game left on the schedule before he and his teammates — whom he called a family — returned to their MLB  clubs.

It was a dominant performance by Venezuela at loanDepot park on Tuesday night, a surprising showing in which Team USA was held to just two hits and four total baserunners when Bryce Harper came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

VENEZUELA SHOCKS TEAM USA TO WIN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC FOR FIRST TIME

However, the game turned on its head, as Harper hammered an Andres Machado fastball over the center-field wall to tie the game at two runs apiece. The momentum shift was palpable, but Suarez found himself in a great position to bring it back to the Venezuelan dugout. 

As Javier Sanoja stole second base, Suárez didn’t miss a 3-2 changeup in the heart of the plate from Garrett Whitlock, driving it to left-center field for the game-winning hit.

He stood on second base and immediately looked to the sky, which Rosenthal asked about – what exactly did he say? 

“I just prayed at the time,” Suarez said. “I pointed to my family out there – they were happy for me. God is good, man. God is good.”

Venezuela’s upset over Team USA, one of the most stacked lineups the Stars and Stripes have fielded in this tournament, marked the country’s first-ever WBC victory. It’s why everyone, from players to coaches, was emotional in celebration on the field after the game. 

“The union – we are together the whole time. We’re not just teammates, we’re all family,” Suarez added. “This team is awesome – we are family here. That’s why we play with passion, with love because we feel that on our jersey. We feel our country on the front of us. That’s why this is a lot for us as players, as people, as human beings and as a Venezuelan. Now, we are the champions.”

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PHOENIX — The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

No one needs to be reminded that Yamamoto was a playoff hero last year, but let’s really break down his efforts.

On Oct. 14, Yamamoto made his third start of the postseason and threw a complete game against the Brewers to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 in the NL Championship Series.

Eleven days later, he tossed another nine innings to help the Dodgers even the series against the Blue Jays. And he wrapped up the World Series with appearances on back-to-back days, starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7.

Yamamoto threw 526 pitches in the postseason, 235 in the World Series alone, and he still touched nearly 97 mph in his final inning of work.

Most pitchers would need at least a full offseason to recover. When Blake Snell slow-played his offseason because of lingering shoulder discomfort after the World Series run, the decision made all the sense in the world.

Yamamoto, however, was already pitching in meaningful games by March 6.

In Yamamoto’s first start of the WBC, he held Chinese Taipei hitless for 2 ⅔ innings. Then in the quarterfinal game against Venezuela last Saturday, he surrendered a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and a second-inning RBI double to Gleyber Torres before settling in for two scoreless innings. The eventual 8-5 loss eliminated Team Japan from the WBC.

“As Team Japan, the result was not what we were aiming for,” Yamamoto said. “But at a personal level, my condition was good.”

The season will be the true test for Yamamoto’s training methods, which have been infamous since before his transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and are already spreading across the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Look no further than shortstop Mookie Betts this week lauding the effects of throwing a javelin.

If they continue to work, Yamamoto could be in the running for the Cy Young Award, after finishing third in National League voting last year.

“There’s high competition, there are a lot of great pitchers out there,” Yamamoto said, “but I hope that I get there.”

Yamamoto’s offseason work, however, wasn’t simply geared toward getting to opening day or winning an individual award. He knows as well as anyone that this team has set a high bar with back-to-back championships.

“The same goal,” Yamamoto said of 2026, “winning a world championship with this team.”

Now over four months removed from that final pitch of the 2025 World Series, one lesson has stuck with Yamamoto.

“I learned how difficult [it is] to get one win,” he said. “As a team, I want to be able to share that joy.”

A touch of gold is hitting the United States baseball team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

As Team USA arrives at loanDepot Park later in Miami, the team will be decked out in game-worn USA Olympic hockey sweaters.

Team USA outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong connected with Olympic hero Jack Hughes, who scored the goal to give the United States its first gold men’s hockey medal since the “Miracle on Ice” team in 1980. Hughes then reached out to his contacts at Fanatics Authentic, the company’s memorabilia division and partner of both athletes, who hand-delivered the jerseys to the team hotel in Miami in time for tonight’s game.

In total, 36 jerseys, covering players, managers and staff, were sent because the team wanted everyone wearing them.

After being worn in the Olympics and now by Team USA at the WBC, fans and collectors will have a chance to own a piece of one of the most unique crossovers in American sports history when they are auctioned off this summer at the third annual Fanatics Fest in New York, as well as select jerseys featured in Fanatics Under Wraps NHL product launching in May, which offers fans a wide array of licensed sports memorabilia in a mystery format.

The hockey team won gold against Canada to get some long-sought revenge. It was the eighth time the U.S. and Canada played for Olympic gold, and the only time the Americans had won prior to last month was 1960. Canada had given the United States gut punches in recent memory, including the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City, Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010, a semifinal knockout in 2014, and the 4 Nations final in 2025.

JACK HUGHES SENDS TEAM USA BASEBALL PLAYERS ‘FIRE-UP MESSAGE’ BEFORE WBC QUARTERFINAL VS CANADA

But this year, the U.S. has dominated Canada in plenty of facets. Not only did the men’s hockey team win gold over Canada, but so did the women’s team as well as the men’s Paralympic team. The baseball team also defeated Canada in the WBC quarterfinals last week.

Team USA will face Venezuela on FOX at 8 p.m. ET for the title. It is the third consecutive championship appearance for the U.S., which won in 2017 but lost to Japan six years later. This year marks Venezuela’s first trip to the championship, beating reigning champion Japan in the quarterfinal and then Italy in Monday’s semifinal.

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean will get the start for the Americans, while Eduardo Rodriguez of the Arizona Diamondbacks will toe the rubber for Venezuela.

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