Venezuela came out victorious on Tuesday in the World Baseball Classic finals, defeating a juggernaut U.S. team.

Entering the game as +235 underdogs, Venezuela struck first when Maikel Garcia hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Salvador Perez in the third inning.

They followed that up with a Wilyer Abreu solo home run in the fifth, all while Eduardo Rodriguez pitched one of his best starts since 2023, throwing 4.1 innings, striking out four, and only letting two on base.

The USA started Nolan Mclean, who gave up three runs in three innings against Italy during the only other loss for team USA. His WBC struggles continued, though he turned in much better performance, pitching 4.2 innings giving up two runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out four.

Team USA’s offense looked lethargic until the eighth inning, when Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run, tying the game at two.

Team Venezuela came right back, however, as Eugenio Suarez hit a RBI-double to retake the lead. They didn’t look back, winning 3-2.

The loss is a heartbreaker for the USA, which had their best roster ever, but lost in the World Baseball Classic finals for the second consecutive time.

While it was a tough ending for team USA fans, the tournament as a whole was a great success. It was exciting for baseball fans worldwide, with MLB stars like Aaron Judge going as far as to say the tournament atmosphere was “bigger and better than the World Series.”