Venezuela’s 8-5 quarterfinal win featured an early jolt of offense, with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani delivering back-to-back leadoff homers that shifted the game’s momentum within the opening swings.
Acuña struck first, hitting a home run on the second pitch from World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Venezuela’s win on Saturday night. The blast traveled 401 feet to right-center and marked Acuña’s second home run of the tournament.
Ohtani responded in the bottom half by taking the first pitch he saw against Ranger Suárez and turning it into a long drive. The home run, measured at 427 feet to center, was described at 113.6 mph off the bat and tied the score 1-1 for the defending champions.
The sequence put a premium on immediate impact from both teams’ lead-off threats, with Ohtani’s response also captured in the way he played it after the ball left the bat. He flipped his bat and motioned with both hands to teammates in the third-base dugout after watching the ball.
The Associated Press reported that the home run was Ohtani’s third of the World Baseball Classic and that his early-game hit helped set up the pace for a quarterfinal that turned into a high-scoring affair. It also noted that the match-up involved multiple recent awards, with Ohtani, 31, described as a four-time MVP who helped lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to the last two World Series titles, and Acuña, 28, as the 2023 NL MVP.
The AP said that Elias Sports Bureau research found no regular or postseason game had included leadoff home runs by players who had won MVPs, underscoring how unusual the early sequence was even amid a tournament filled with accomplished sluggers.
The night’s opening burst set the tone as Venezuela moved past the defending champions, with the two stars’ leadoff homers providing the quarterfinal’s earliest and most memorable turn in the scoring.