CINCINNATI (AP) — Eugenio Suárez provided the biggest moment in Venezuela's sports history with an RBI double in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic to beat the United States.
As big as that was, he's ready for another challenge.
Suárez's second stint with Cincinnati began Thursday as the Reds opened the season against the Boston Red Sox. Suárez was in the lineup at designated hitter and batted fifth.
“Fits like an old glove, even though I'm the new guy here,” Suárez said before the game. “I don’t need a map. I know the streets, I know the city.”
Suárez — who signed a one-year, $15 million contract before spring training — was with the Reds from 2015 through 2021. He hit 189 home runs during those seven seasons, including 49 in 2019.
The 34-year old Suárez delivered the biggest moment of his baseball career in the ninth inning of the WBC title game on March 17 in Miami when his double into the left-field gap on a full-count changeup from Garrett Whitlock drove in pinch-runner Javier Sanoja for Venezuela's game-winning run to beat the U.S. 3-2.
Suárez emotionally stood on second base with his outstretched arms pointing to the sky, a moment that is sure to be immortalized in some fashion throughout Venezuela.
“Every time that I see my phone, I see videos, I see text message from my friends. It was one of the best experiences that I've had in my career,” he said.
The Reds will honor Suárez and assistant athletic trainer Tomas Vera for being part of Venezuela's WBC team during pregame ceremonies on Sunday. Suárez will also receive the Luis Aparicio Award from Reds Hall of Fame shortstop Dave Concepción on Saturday. The award is given to the Venezuelan player in the majors with the best performance in a season. Suárez was with Arizona and Seattle in 2025. He finished fifth in the majors with 49 home runs and fourth with a career high 118 RBIs. He batted .228 overall with an .824 OPS.
Suárez is hoping that the momentum from the WBC will carry over as the Reds look to make the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013. Cincinnati finished 83-79 last year in Terry Francona's first season as manager and earned the NL's final wild-card spot.
The Reds should have a strong middle of the lineup with All-Star shortstop Elly de la Cruz batting third, rookie first baseman Sal Stewart at cleanup and Suárez hitting fifth.
Suárez has 101 homers at Great American Ball Park and is one of five players with at least 100. The Reds' ballpark has averaged 2.67 home runs per game since it opened in 2003. That is the second-highest homer rate in the majors among ballparks to host at least 1,200 games.
“I think we had a really good group," Suárez said. "We just have to believe each other and play hard every time.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Venezuela designated hitter Eugenio Suárez celebrates after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a World Baseball Classic semifinal game against Italy, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
PRAGUE (AP) — Ilia Malinin bounced back from misfiring at the Milan Cortina Olympics by leading after the short program at the figure skating world championships on Thursday.
With a new haircut, Malinin showcased all that the spectators expected from the defending two-time world champion at O2 Arena.
He will go to Saturday’s free skate with a massive lead of more than nine points after a personal-best 111.29 score in the short program.
The performance showed the Olympic failure was behind him.
“It was a very supportive, very energetic crowd,” the 21-year-old Malinin said. “I felt every single piece of love and support from everyone out there. Just going on the that ice I had no expectations. I really just wanted to embrace the environment and experience the figure skating, and that’s all I really thought about the whole program.”
Known as the “Quad God,” Malinin opened with a quad flip and a combination of quad lutz and a triple toe loop. The only skater to have successfully landed a quad axel in competition performed only a triple version of his trademark jump.
French skater Adam Siao Him Fa nailed a perfect quad toe loop in combination with a triple toe loop plus a quad salchow for 101.85 points.
Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia was a surprise third after a personal best 96.49.
Japan's Shun Sato was fourth, while countryman Yuma Kagiyama — a two-time Olympic individual silver medalist — fell in a lutz attempt and was sixth.
Andrew Torgashev was seventh and fellow American Jacob Sanchez was 10th in his senior worlds debut.
Malinin helped the U.S. win the team gold in Milan and was heavily favored to win individual gold with an unrivaled program. His five-point lead over Kagiyama and Siao after the short program seemed insurmountable.
But in one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history, Malinin fell twice and made other glaring mistakes in a disastrous free skate, falling from first to eighth place.
Malinin previously said he succumbed to the pressure at his first Games.
On Thursday, he said it was “pretty difficult” rebounding from the Olympics.
“There’re always small things that can change the outcome of any performance,” he said, “so coming back from there it was really hard for few days. I kept thinking about it 24/7. I thought of so many different things I could have done differently to get a different outcome.”
Then, he decided to “to move on.”
"Maybe in a different universe I would have won the Olympics and maybe decided not to do the world championships but here I am. So, now I’m here and I can appreciate it and enjoy the sport of figure skating."
Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov from Kazakhstan was skipping the worlds.
Olympic pairs bronze medalists Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany led after the short program and produced a near flawless free skate to claim their first gold.
Hase and Volodin stayed on their knees for a while in the middle of the rink before hugging each other. With the result of 148.55 points for the best free skate for a total career-best of 228.33, they completed their collection of medals from the worlds after taking bronze in 2024 and silver last year.
“Tomorrow, I will wake up very very happy,” Hase said.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia took silver with 218.41 points.
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada earned bronze for their first podium at the worlds.
U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov who couldn’t compete at the Olympics because Efimova wasn’t yet a U.S. citizen didn’t avoid mistakes, among them a fall by Efimova on a triple toe loop. Their total score of 202.51 placed them sixth.
Another American pair Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe registered two falls and dropped to 16th.
Olympic champion Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan did not compete in Prague after winning Japan’s first Olympic pairs title last month.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany perform during the pairs free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Aleksandr Selevko from Estonia competes during the men's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Adam Siao Him Fa from France competes during the men's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
