Marlins’ Javier Sanoja Scores Winning Run in Venezuela’s WBC Title Victory

The Miami Marlins have a World Baseball Classic champion — and he helped seal the title at his home stadium.

Javier Sanoja scored the go-ahead run for Team Venezuela as they defeated Team USA in the championship game of the WBC at loanDepot Park in Miami. It is the first WBC title for the country.

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The game was tied at 2-2 in the ninth inning when San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez drew a walk. Venezuela removed him from the game and sent Sanoja in to pinch-run for him. He stole second with Eugenio Suárez at the plate. His double scored Sanoja to put Venezuela in the driver’ seat.

Javier Sanoja Helps Venezuela Win Title

EUGENIO SUÁREZ PUTS TEAM VENEZUELA AHEAD IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com/LtpLdYII5f
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 18, 2026

Before Tuesday’s championship game, Sanoja played in two games for his home country and slashed .375/.375/.750 with one home run and an RBI.

Sanoja has played in 120 Major League games last season and slashed .243/.287/.396 with six home runs and 38 RBI. He struck out 41 times and walked 19 in 313 at-bats. He broke in with the Marlins in 2024, playing in 15 games. He slashed .229/.250/.286 with two RBI. The Marlins signed the 23-year-old out of Venezuela as an international free agent. In 414 minor leagues games before his debut, he slashed .277/.332/.388 with 20 home runs and 202 RBI.

He now returns to Marlins spring training with bragging rights over the rest of the Marlins that played in the WBC. That list included Sandy Alcantara (Dominican Republic), Owen Caissie (Canada), Yiddi Cappe (Cuba), Liam Hicks (Canada), Ian Lewis (Great Britain), Otto Lopez (Canada), Jakob Marsee (Italy), Michael Petersen (Great Britain), Agustín Ramírez (Dominican Republic) and Jared Serna (Mexico).

One of the standout Marlins in the entire tournament was outfielder Owen Caissie, who helped Team Canada advance from pool play for the first time. He slashed .412/.476/.765 with one home run and five RBI as Canada lost to Team USA in the quarterfinals.

Caissie joined the franchise in January, along with two other Chicago Cubs players from Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera. It was one of the more significant trades of the offseason. Cabrera was seen as a rising start and had three years of team control attached to him. Caissie was one of baseball’s best outfield prospects but his path to a regular job in Chicago was blocked by veteran outfielders.

Previous WBC champions include Japan (2006, 2009, 2023), the Dominican Republic (2013) and the United States (2017).