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President Donald Trump strikes once again. With Team USA’s humbling loss in the World Baseball Classic final, an unexpected political fallout grabbed the spotlight, as the US President responded to Venezuela’s victory with a cryptic but powerful hint.

After yesterday’s comment about Venezuela, President Trump has doubled down and posted again, “STATEHOOD!!!”

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Minutes after Venezuela’s 4-2 win against Italy on Monday night, Donald Trump had posted, “STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”, possibly hinting at his country’s January operation related to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

That pulse stayed in focus as the team entered Miami to face Team USA in the finals.

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Meanwhile, manager Omar López made it clear that the team would answer questions only related to baseball. Players like Eugenio Suárez showed the same emotion, mentioning that this will be for the fans and people back at home.

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And they did win it all for their people when the time came.

Venezuela beat Team USA 3-2 in the finals and won their first-ever World Baseball Classic title, which was their first-ever finals appearance, too.

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Amid statements by Donald Trump, Venezuela embarrasses Team USA

This was probably one of the worst games Team USA has played in the history of the World Baseball Classic. While the final was dominated by pitchers from both sides, the way Team USA struggled to get on base showed the difference between the two teams.

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In the first 6 innings, Team USA had just 2 hits courtesy of Brice Turang and Bryce Harper. But none of them got past the 2nd base.

In the meantime, Venezuela had 4 hits and had scored 2 runs. At one point, commentators even thought that Venezuela might shutout Team USA. But Bryce Harper said ‘not on my watch.’

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In the bottom of the 8th inning, Andres Machado walked Bobby Witt Jr. and then gave a homer to Bryce Harper to tie the game. The thoughts of extra innings started swirling. But Eugenio Suárez did not let the game stay tied for long.

In the top of the 9th, Suárez doubled on a pitch by Garrett Whitlock and scored Luis Arraez, who had walked earlier. This gave the lead back to Venezuela. And the dugout started preparing with the tricolor.

In the bottom of the 9th, Team couldn’t do anything and lost the game 3-2. The emotions from Venezuelan players said a lot about what the win meant!

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William and Willson Contreras were in tears, hugging each other. And on the other side, many of Team USA players looked distraught with themselves.

The USA’s whole offensive lineup managed only 3 hits, including the homer by Harper. Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, and Alex Bregman looked like they had never faced Eduardo Rodriguez and simply could not get any hits.

The only extra base hit by Team USA was Bryce Harper’s homer. None of the players even made it past the 1st base.

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Now, it feels like this win proved one thing: A superstar team will always beat a team of superstars.

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Karthik Sri Hari KC

1,518 Articles

Karthik Sri Hari KC is a baseball writer at EssentiallySports who reports from the MLB GameDay Desk. A former national-level baseball player, Karthik brings a player’s instincts combined with a journalist’s precision to his coverage of key moments across the league. Known as a stat specialist, he ranks among EssentiallySports’ top three MLB writers, delivering in-depth analysis that goes beyond numbers to highlight team and player strategies. Karthik’s athlete-informed perspective, shaped by years on the field, has earned him a place in the EssentiallySports Journalistic Excellence Program, our internal training initiative where writers develop their reporting and storytelling skills under industry experts. In addition to his writing, Karthik has experience creating educational content during internships, enhancing his research, writing, and communication skills.

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Ahana Chatterjee

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