Philadelphia Phillies star Trea Turner scored the decisive home run as the US beat Venezuela 9-7 in the World Baseball Classic quarter-finals in Miami ©Getty Images

Defending champions the United States reached the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic after beating Venezuela 9-7 in a thrilling match at Miami.

The match at the LoanDepot Park had another sell-out crowd of 35,792 captivated for most of this quarter-final before the decisive blow by Trea Turner in the eighth inning carried the US through to a meeting tomorrow with Cuba.

The game was packed with incident, including Venezuela second baseman and Houston Astros star Jose Altuve leaving in the fifth inning with a right hand injury after he was hit by a pitch from Daniel Bard.

The US had begun the game with five consecutive hits against Texas Rangers left-hander Martin Perez, ratcheting up the intensity with each one.

They built an early three-run lead before Venezuela cut the deficit to one with a two-run home run by Luis Arraez in the bottom of the first - his first of two homers.

The US scored two runs through Mookie Betts in the fourth and a solo shot by Kyle Tucker in the fifth only for Venezuela to take the lead through a four-run bottom of the fifth.

It was the result of a disastrous performance by Bard, who hit Altuve in the right hand and threw two wild pitches.

Venezuela's Jose Altuve was forced out of the match in the fifth inning after being hit on the hand by US pitcher Daniel Bard ©Getty Images
Venezuela's Jose Altuve was forced out of the match in the fifth inning after being hit on the hand by US pitcher Daniel Bard ©Getty Images

Trailing 7-5, the US loaded the bases in the eighth on a walk, single and hit by pitch against losing pitcher Jose Quijada.

Silvino Bracho relieved and then Turner, the ninth batter in the US line-up, sent his 0-2 change-up 407 feet to deep left field for the third grand slam in Team USA history.

Before it had even landed, most of Turner’s team-mates had already spilled out of the dugout in celebration.

Turner, a World Series winner with the Washington Nationals in 2019 before joining current team Philadelphia Phillies, called it the biggest hit of his career.

"Being honest with you, it's one of the greatest games I've ever been a part of," said Team USA manager Mark DeRosa.

“Someone had to win; someone had to lose."

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa called his side's victory over Venezuela
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa called his side's victory over Venezuela "one of the greatest games" he had taken part in ©Getty Images

Cuba has had a mixed tournament, losing its opening two games before making it through as the Pool A winner in a five-way tiebreaker, before beating Australia in the quarter-finals in Tokyo.

They arrived in the US from the Japanese capital only on Thursday (March 16) and will be battling jet lag when they face a game in Miami against two of baseball’s fiercest rivals.

This will be the first World Baseball Classic meeting between the two teams, who have not faced each other in the previous four tournaments, which the US also won in 2017.

The winner will face either Japan or Mexico in the final on Tuesday (March 21).

They meet in their semi-final in Florida on Monday (March 20).