World Baseball Classic: Red Sox’s Abreu Hits 3-run Homer, Giving Venezuela Lead in WBC Q’final over Japan

The Japan News

12:31 JST, March 15, 2026

The Boston Red Sox’s Wilyer Abreu hit a 3-run homer off a pitch from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters’ Hiromi Itoh to give Venezuela a 7-5 lead over Japan in the 6th inning of the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal on Saturday in Miami.

Abreu’s homer followed a single home run for Venezuela by the Kansas City Royal’s Maikel Garcia in the fifth.

In the third inning, Hanshin Tigers outfielder Shota Morishita hit a three-run home run into the left field stands to give Japan a 5-2 lead over Venezuela.

In the first inning, Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit a single home run.

Earlier in the first inning, Venezuela’s Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a single home run off a pitch from Japan’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto.