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Reyner Barrios returned to loanDepot Park remembering Venezuela’s loss to the United States in the World Baseball Classic — a defeat that lingered for three years.
“That game hurt until yesterday,” he said.
But Tuesday’s matchup between Venezuela and the U.S felt different for the 25-year-old fan. So he got in a car with his brother, Juan Barrios, and drove 18 hours from Houston to Miami.
“I was going to support my team no matter where they played,” he said, without hesitation.
The two brothers made a bet: if Venezuela won it all, one of them would tattoo the team and the title. By the final pitch, that bet no longer felt hypothetical.
“It will be my first tattoo ever,” he said.
Inside loanDepot Park, Reyner and Juan were part of a crowd of more than 36,000 that watched Venezuela win 3-2 against the U.S., claiming their first World Baseball Classic title.
Venezuela struck first in the third inning, with Maikel García bringing in the opening run. Wilyer Abreu added to the lead in the fifth with a solo home run, giving Venezuela early control of the game.
But the tension never really left.
In the eighth inning, Bryce Harper sent a two-run homer to center field, tying the game and sending a jolt through the stadium.
For a moment, everything paused. Everybody was on their feet.
Then came the response.
A walk from infielder Luis Arráez and a stolen base by Javier Sanoja put the go-ahead run in scoring position and finally, third baseball Eugenio Suárez, drove a double into the gap to bring him home.
Just like that, Venezuela had the lead again.
When the final out finally came, everything that had been building across nine innings across days, years of waiting, all of it broke loose.
Fans jumped, embraced, beer splashed a rainbow through the lights. Some fans stood still for a moment, trying to process what they had just seen.
Last WBC, Venezuela came up short of even reaching semifinals. Now, they can call themselves World Champions.
