00:00So Venezuela got the 4-2 win over Italy in the semifinals.
00:04They got out to a 2-0 lead after they loaded the bases, walked one in,
00:08and then Dante Nori grounded into a force-out that brought home this second run for Italy.
00:13And that was all she wrote for Italy, as Gino Suarez homered in the fourth inning
00:19to bring home Venezuela's first run, and then in the seventh,
00:25and Venezuela tied it up on a Ronald Acuna Jr. infield single.
00:30Then Michael Garcia and Luisa Reyes brought home the next two on RBI singles.
00:35Then the Venezuelan bullpen shut the door.
00:39Venezuela is moving on to the finals. Your first reaction.
00:43My first reaction is, why does this cat Andres Machado out of the Venezuela bullpen not have a job?
00:48We'll get into that a little bit more, but it was another one of those reminders
00:52in a tournament like this. All good things have to come to an end,
00:55and either way, something good was coming to an end.
00:57We were at the game where Venezuela overtakes Japan there, and it was pandemonium.
01:03And then these are two awesome stories. Italy, one of the best stories of the WBC,
01:07but, I mean, you can only take it so far.
01:11I think they did a good job. They went all in on this game with Nola and Lorenzen behind him,
01:15but these Venezuelan hitters, they struggled against Nola,
01:19but eventually were able to get to Lorenzen.
01:22And to me, it just kind of seemed like an incredible story.
01:26Just kind of ran out of gas a little bit when you ran into a really good and disciplined team
01:31that is really well-rounded.
01:33And I think the most underrated part by all of us here,
01:36and I'll speak for myself more,
01:38because I know I missed some of the conversations of previewing the WBC,
01:42may have been this Venezuelan bullpen.
01:43I think we all knew it would be pretty good,
01:45but I don't know if we accounted for Andres Machado.
01:49I don't know if we accounted for Edward Bizzardo to throw this way.
01:52This Venezuelan bullpen has been, I think, the X factor
01:55in what has made them what they are in this tournament.
01:57So we both picked Venezuela yesterday when we previewed the game,
02:01but you were much more specific,
02:03and basically everything that you said came true.
02:05I remember you referenced it was likely going to be lower scoring.
02:08You also referenced that Italy was likely going to throw both Nola and Lorenzen
02:13and kind of throw the next game out the window a little bit
02:16because you've got to get to the final.
02:18So they put in their best effort, and they tried,
02:21but ultimately they fell a little bit short exactly like you said.
02:25For me, I just said, I think Venezuela is going to win.
02:29You fell into it much deeper and basically nailed it.
02:34Dude, the atmosphere.
02:36I mean, the DR, it's crazy.
02:38I mean, crazy amount of fans there, so passionate.
02:42These Venezuelan fans might be on another level here.
02:44Less instruments, just the old-school vocals,
02:47and it is like stadiums shaking.
02:49So this is going to be a real preview,
02:51but this is going to be a road game for the U.S. as well.
02:53But I really – it was a great baseball game.
02:56I think it was a reminder, though,
02:58when you started to get through this Italy lineup
02:59and some of these Venezuelan arms were throwing the ball the way that they were.
03:02Like, oh, well, you know, this is some young guys still, right?
03:05Sam Antonacci is still a prospect.
03:06Andrew Fisher was just drafted last year.
03:09Jack Caglione, we just talked about, is a breakout guy for this year,
03:11but he was just coming off his rookie season.
03:14It's all young guys for the most part.
03:17And, I mean, Antonacci is never going to play,
03:19I don't think, very much shortstop at the big league level.
03:21He's playing shortstop in the semifinals of the WBC in batting leadoff.
03:25I think it's just a testament to how far this team took it,
03:28but I think it's also a reminder of, like, all right,
03:30this team probably took it about as far as it was going to go.
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