Venezuela comes from behind to beat Italy, earn WBC final spot vs Team USA

Team USA has its opponent for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final on Tuesday night. 

Venezuela ended Italy’s magical WBC run on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat them, 4-2 at loanDepot park, earning a spot in the final against the United States. 

Italy was the surprise team of the tournament, taking down the U.S. in pool play before defeating Mexico to finish a perfect 4-0 in Pool B.

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But that win over Mexico also kept Team USA alive in the tournament, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated Canada before earning a thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday night to punch their ticket back to the final.

While it felt only right for the U.S. and Italy to meet once more to determine who would win it all before the start of the 2026 MLB season, Venezuela had other things in mind during the bottom of the seventh inning.

Down 2-1 in the contest, Venezuela found themselves threatening with a potential two-out rally after Jackson Chourio, the Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star, singled to center field, allowing Andres Gimenez to advance to third base.

That’s when Ronald Acuña Jr., the face of Venezuelan baseball, reached first on an infield single that allowed Gimenez to score, tying the game at two apiece. But the rally wasn’t over just yet.

The Venezuelans caught fire after Acuña’s single, as Maikel Garcia singled to left field, scoring Chourio, and Luis Arraez brought home Acuña. With two outs, Venezuela seized all the momentum with a three-run seventh inning that made it 4-2.

Italy had been clinging to the lead since the bottom of the second inning, when they made the most of a bases-loaded situation. J.J. D’Orazio walked home a run, while Dante Nori grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored another to give Italy a 2-0 lead.

Slugger Eugenio Suarez got Venezuela on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to left-center field, cutting the deficit to one. But they weren’t able to string together additional offense until that seventh inning.

From there, Italy could never get a rally started, as Daniel Palencia eventually shut the door in the ninth inning, striking out the final two Italian hitters.

As Venezuela celebrated, Italy hung their heads, but their story this month has been nothing short of incredible. Their espresso machine in the dugout — which captain Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals helped turn into a home run celebration — went viral as they continued to have success. The roster featured established MLB stars, top prospects and players with Italian heritage, earning praise from big leaguers throughout the past two weeks.

But it’s Venezuela, ripe with top MLB talent, ready to take on Team USA and starter Nolan McLean, who Italy touched up in their pool play game, on Tuesday night to determine who holds the rights to call themselves the best baseball team in the world for at least the next three years. 

Team USA and Venezuela will face each other at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. 

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Jasmine Crockett defends her security guard who was killed in police standoff, wanted for impersonating cop

The man who worked security for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, but was killed in a standoff with SWAT last week was accused of impersonating a police officer and other offenses, although the congresswoman is defending him, saying his criminal history does not include any violent offenses.

The suspect, who was identified as Diamon-Mazairre Robinson, 39, was shot and killed by Dallas Police SWAT officers on Wednesday. He had barricaded himself inside a vehicle in the garage of a children's hospital after Dallas Police officers tracked him while investigating an active warrant.

Police deployed tear gas to force him out before the suspect exited the vehicle and pointed a gun at officers, leading officers to shoot him. The suspect did not fire his gun, and no officers were injured.

Dash camera footage of the incident at Children’s Medical Center Dallas was released on Monday.

JASMINE CROCKETT'S ALLEGED SECURITY GUARD KILLED IN STANDOFF WITH DALLAS SWAT TEAM: REPORTS

He was wanted for impersonating a law enforcement officer and had claimed to be one while recruiting for his business that placed off-duty officers in security jobs.

Robinson was driving a replica undercover car with stolen U.S. government plates, often wore fake police uniforms pretending he was a federal agent and created a fraudulent business where he used fake identifying information to hire legitimate police officers for off-duty jobs. Dallas Police also said 11 firearms were recovered during their investigation, including the handgun he was holding during the shooting, which was reported stolen. 

He was also not using his real name, going by the alias "Mike King."

"The agencies that he reported to work for do not exist. So dignitaries, basically special dignitary police, that agency does not exist within the federal government. So that's who he portrayed to be. There was no actual federal agency that he worked for that existed. He was very good at hiding his true identity … He had been living like this for many years," Dallas Deputy Police Chief William Griffith said on Monday.

Robinson has a lengthy criminal history, with arrests going back as far as 2010. He has been charged with offenses such as theft and violating probation.

Crockett came to the defense of her former security guard, releasing a statement on Monday saying her office was unable to find any violent offenses in his "limited criminal history."

"We are saddened and shocked by some of the concerning revelations. Our team followed all protocols outlined by the House to contract additional security. We were approved to use this vendor who also provided security services for additional entities in the local community and worked closely with law enforcement agencies including Capitol Police," she said in the statement.

The congresswoman said, "the fact that an individual was able to somehow circumvent the vetting processes for something as sensitive as security for members of Congress highlights the loopholes and shortcomings in many of our systems."

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"This is incredibly alarming, especially for those members who receive high volumes of credible and sophisticated death threats," she said. "This situation reiterates the need for Capitol Police to provide security for members of Congress, especially under this administration's new normal of inciting attacks on those who dare to speak out. We are fortunate that this is someone who used those loopholes without malice. Furthermore, after an initial review of the limited criminal history of Diamon Mazairre Robinson in Dallas County, we've been unable to locate any violent offenses."

The progressive lawmaker added that "there was never any reason to suspect that he wasn't who he held himself out to be," saying he never endangered her team, worked diligently, coordinated with local law enforcement and maintained positive relationships throughout the community."

"What we're now learning about his past doesn't fit the person we came to know as Mike King," she wrote. "His death evokes a range of emotions. Our hearts grieve the loss of someone we knew and the lost good that could have come from his redemption."

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