Ronald Acuña Jr. put the team on his back Monday night, and Venezuela did not need much else.
Acuña went 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base as Venezuela blanked Nicaragua 4-0 at loanDepot park, completing a perfect 3-0 run through Pool D. The rest of the lineup managed just two hits combined, with the bottom six hitters going 0-for-21, but Acuña’s individual brilliance made the difference.
“Acuña was our hero tonight,” said Venezuela manager Omar López. “If you have pitching and defence, you have a lot of chances to win games. You just need one hit, a homer, or somebody to step up.”
Acuña drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Jackson Chourio sacrifice fly in the first, then launched a 402-foot home run to right-center in the third and added an RBI single in the fifth. Seven Venezuela pitchers combined for the shutout, the sixth in the country’s WBC history, tying Puerto Rico for the most all-time.
“That’s part of my game,” Acuña said. “Sometimes I can hit a homer, sometimes I can steal a base, sometimes I can play defence. I can do it all.”
Nicaragua finished the tournament 0-4, its second straight winless Classic, and will need to go through a qualifier to participate in the next WBC. Manager Dusty Baker acknowledged the gap between his team and the pool’s top sides while expressing hope for the future.
“The teams that beat us had excellent pitching and good hitting,” Baker said. “We’re not where they are yet. Hopefully in the near future we’ll catch up.”
Venezuela now turns its attention to Wednesday’s showdown with the Dominican Republic, with the loser facing defending champion Japan in the quarterfinals. Acuña acknowledged the stakes and the emotion the game will bring.
“There is a classic rivalry between both countries,” he said. “We just have to control our emotions.”
Leave Your Comment Here