Venezuela beat Shohei Ohtani and defending champion Japan 8-5 in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday night to advance to the semifinals against unbeaten Italy.

After sweeping through Pool C with a 4-0 record, Japan will take on Venezuela in the quarterfinals. Shohei Ohtani and Samurai Japan are the favorites to advance, but these odds are tighter than expected at -162 odds for the chalk and +134 for the South American underdogs.

Venezuela heads into Saturday's World Baseball Classic quarterfinal against Japan confident of ending the three-time champi