Ronald Acuña Jr. Fired-Up as Venezuela Charges Into World Baseball Classic Final Against Team USA

Miami — Ronald Acuña Jr. stood on the infield grass Monday night, jersey drenched in celebration, and let the moment wash over him. Venezuela’s 4-2 semifinal victory over Italy had just punched the nation’s first-ever ticket to a World Baseball Classic championship game, and the Braves superstar wanted every second of it etched in memory.

“This is No. 1 for me in my career,” Acuña told reporters minutes later, voice steady but eyes still blazing. “I love Atlanta a lot, but before I played in Atlanta, I was born in Venezuela. Venezuela made Ronald Acuña Jr.”

The statement carries extra weight for a player who watched Atlanta’s 2021 World Series run from the dugout while rehabbing a torn ACL. Healthy again after dual knee surgeries within the past five years, Acuña is now one win away from an international crown that would eclipse anything he has achieved in a Major League uniform.

He helped author history against Italy, lacing a seventh-inning single that ignited a three-run rally. Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez followed with RBI singles, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead Venezuela would not relinquish. The win capped a dramatic path through the tournament that already featured an upset of defending champion Japan in the quarterfinals.

Tuesday night’s final presents a rematch dripping with subplot. The last time Venezuela and the United States shared a WBC diamond, in the 2023 quarterfinal, Trea Turner’s eighth-inning grand slam catapulted Team USA to a 9-7 comeback win and handed Venezuela its lone defeat of that campaign. Acuña hasn’t forgotten.

“Baseball gives you these kind of opportunities. Life is so ironic,” he said. “I’m very happy to play the United States again. They are all superstars, but we have a great team as well. We are going to play our game. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

The 2023 National League MVP has backed the bravado with production. In pool play he went 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base in a 4-0 win over Nicaragua. Against Japan he swapped leadoff homers with Shohei Ohtani, setting the tone for an 8-5 comeback that vaulted Venezuela into the final four. In the semifinal he drove in the tying run before his teammates finished the Italians off.

Now Acuña and a star-studded U.S. lineup will face off for global supremacy under the lights, the tournament’s most dynamic offense against a red-hot Venezuelan roster that has thrived on the us-against-the-world narrative. First pitch is set for Tuesday night with everything on the line: a country’s first WBC title and a personal milestone Acuña values above all others.