Venezuela’s Ronald Acuña Jr. taunted Japan after an 8-5 win in Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup at the World Baseball Classic.
“We ate sushi! We ate sushi!” the Braves outfielder is seen yelling through the locker room at Miami’s loanDepot park in a video online, referring to the traditional Japanese dish.
“Maybe the most important game [of my career],” Acuña said afterward. “When we went to the World Series [with the Braves], I wasn’t there. Thank God I’m living this great moment in my career.”
The Braves won the 2021 World Series, defeating the Houston Astros in six games, while Acuña was sidelined with a leg injury.
“I had a lot of emotion because I want to make my people proud,” Acuña added.
The Venezuela national team overpowered Japan, the 2023 WBC champion, in a come-from-behind win to reach the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic for the first time since 2009.
In the first inning, Acuña hit a leadoff homer, blasting a 96 mph fastball by Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the outfield wall.
The former MLB MVP celebrated by doing his signature trot and a Eurostep at third base before pounding his chest at home plate.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, who answered with a leadoff home run, said the Venezuelans “overpowered us.”
The four-time MLB MVP treated his Dodgers teammates to a high-quality sushi dinner last March — and introduced his teammate Freddie Freeman to the popular Japanese delicacy for the first time.
Before that, Ohtani enjoyed a sushi dinner with Yamamoto at Nobu a few days before Yamamoto and the Dodgers agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract in Dec. 2023.
Venezuela plays Italy Monday night in Miami.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
