Arraez breaks out in familiar surroundings as Venezuela routs Israel 11-3
“Well, I mean, it was kind of the Luis Arraez show today,” Israel manager Brad Ausmus said.
Luis Arraez put together one of the best offensive performances in WBC history.
The former Marlins infielder went 4 for 5 with two home runs, five RBIs, and four runs scored as Venezuela (2-0) beat Israel (0-1) 11-3 on Saturday night at loanDepot Park to remain undefeated in Pool D. Enmanuel De Jesus struck out eight over five innings, breaking Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic single-game strikeout record, as Venezuela backed its star-filled lineup with a dominant start.
Arraez’s night did not end with the game. He walked into the postgame news conference room carrying a large water bottle with “3000 hits” written across tape wrapped around the bottle, a personal reminder sitting front and center.
“I want to go there. I want to hit my 3,000th hit,” Arraez said. “I got 1,000 already, but I always put it in my mind. Every time I read it, I read it and then I say, I can do that.”
The crowd was Venezuelan-dominant from the start, and the fan zone outside was more packed than earlier in the day. First pitch was 7:08 p.m. with the roof closed in front of an announced crowd of 22,573.
Venezuela played like it understood the moment, and it jumped on Israel starter Ben Simon immediately.
Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the night by drawing an eight-pitch walk, and Arraez followed by hammering a sinker into the right-center gap for an RBI double. The throw got away at the plate, allowing Arraez to advance to third, and Salvador Perez lined an RBI single to left to make it 2-0.
Eugenio Suárez turned it into separation. After battling back from 1-2 to 3-2, he unloaded on a slider down the middle and sent it over the left-field wall for a two-run homer as Venezuela pushed the lead to 4-0 and ended Simon’s night after one-third of an inning.
Ausmus said that the first inning framed everything.
“The big first inning hurt us a ton,” Ausmus said. “Suárez’s home run, if we could have got out of there with two runs, I think you feel like you’re in the fight. It was just all Venezuela. They outhit us, they outplayed us, they outpitched us.”
Israel’s bullpen steadied the game for a few innings, but Venezuela kept creating pressure. In the third, Perez reached second on a misplay in center field, and Venezuela pushed him to third on a deep flyout, but Israel escaped the inning without allowing another run.
Israel finally broke through in the fifth, and it came from a familiar name in a familiar ballpark.
Garrett Stubbs ripped a stand-up triple to the wall, and former Miami Marlin, Matt Mervis cashed in by driving in Israel’s first run of the tournament. The RBI came in Mervis’ old home ballpark, and it trimmed Venezuela’s lead to 4-1.
Arraez answered.
On a 3-1 pitch in the bottom of the fifth, he tattooed a fastball over the left-field wall for a solo home run to restore the cushion, 5-1.
Israel showed life again in the sixth when RJ Schreck launched a two-out solo homer to the right-field second deck off Ricardo Sánchez to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Venezuela responded with the inning that put the game out of reach.
After Israel went to Daniel Federman, Venezuela loaded the bases with one out. Maikel Garcia delivered the first blow, lining a two-run single into right to bring home Gleyber Torres and Ezequiel Tovar and push the lead to 7-2.
Arraez followed by doing it again. After Garcia stole second on the first pitch of Arraez’s at-bat, Arraez cranked a line drive two-run homer over the right field wall to make it 10-2 to turn the game into a blowout.
Before the next pitch was thrown, Arraez stepped out of the dugout and urged the fans behind Venezuela’s bench to keep the energy up.
Miguel Cabrera, Venezuela’s hitting coach and a former Miami Marlins star, has been a constant presence around the cage and dugout throughout the week, and Venezuela’s players have not been shy about what it means to have him there.
“It’s really good for us. We really want to have him on our team,” Willson Contreras said pregame. “We know who Miguel Cabrera is on the team, and we know what he did throughout his career… We’re really glad to have him here.”
Arraez said Cabrera’s voice carries weight.
“It’s very important,” Arraez said, referring to Cabrera’s coaching.
“He said to me, ‘Hey, try to hit the ball to the center field,’ and I hit it to the right field.”
He added jokingly, “But I just tried to find a barrel, and then thank God I hit a homer.”
Arraez stayed scorching in the eighth, hammering a first-pitch double to right and later scoring on Wilyer Abreu’s RBI single up the middle to push the lead to 11-2.
Israel got one final highlight in the ninth, and it came from its most notable name.
Harrison Bader, who said pregame the Classic is about representing something bigger than yourself, jumped on a 1-1 fastball from Anthony Molina and hit a solo homer to center to make it 11-3.
The World Baseball Classic has been a showcase of national pride, and this year it has unfolded amid an especially tense moment globally, with the United States and Israel engaged in a conflict with Iran.
There had been specluation about demonstration surrounding Team Israel’s games in Miami. But throughout the day and into pregame, there were no visible protests outside loanDepot park, and the scene around the entrances appeared routine.
“Yeah, it means a lot. I think it’s important to take advantage of situations where you can represent something much larger than yourself,” Bader said. “But to just show up, to represent, and to try, I think it’s just really important.”
Israel put two more singles on the board after Bader’s homer, but Stubbs struck out swinging and Mervis popped out to second to end it.
The night also carried a Miami thread that fit naturally into the action: Arraez, Mervis, and Javier Sanoja, all former Marlins, combined for six hits.
Venezuela’s next test is Monday night against Nicaragua, scheduled for 7 p.m.
Israel plays Nicaragua Sunday at 7 p.m.
