Pedro G. Briceño
Aguila from the Dominican Republic advances to the final of the Caribbean Series. And they did it in an impressive way.
Carlos Paulino hit a single in the center with full sacks to lead in the two laps that turned the score around and gave Aguilas Cibaeñas a close 4-3 victory over the Panama Chiriquí Federals in the first of the two Caribbean semifinals. Classical.
Paulino’s shot, which had come in as a substitute for catching Francisco Peña in the seventh half, marked Yefri Pérez and Johan Camargo, who were in third and middle respectively. His historic blow came against veteran Walter Silva, 44, who had relieved Marcos Campos in the sixth act. The right-handed Mexican baseball player in his 20th season has done a commendable job.
For the second consecutive match, Quisqueyanos got the victory in their last bat-to, because on Thursday, Rangel Ravelo hit the winning, unstoppable shot on the left field and gave him the 3-2 victory against Colombia.
Cibaeños’ success leaves behind an irregular defensive game against Panama, in which they committed four blunders, three of them from players like Robinson Canó and Juan Lagares who have gold glove awards in the majors in their portfolio.
The Eagles had reached the ninth inning 2-3 behind a Silva who had dominated the Dominicans, displaying his large repertoire, mixing his breaking pitches well, mostly on his knees.
Ronald Guzmán gave the first out, Melky Cabrera started the return with an unstoppable right and was immediately replaced by the fast Yefry Pérez, who, although well cared for by Silva, was snatched from the middle, Ravelo offered the second out, Camargo received a ticket and Junior Lake landed on a shortstop field to fill the buffers and prepare the stage for Paulino’s hit.
Wirfin Obispo, who replaced Fernando Abad in the ninth after giving up the third round for Panama, was the winning pitcher and Silva the loser.
With this victory, the Dominicans will now face the winner of the second match of the semifinal that will face Puerto Rico against Mexico. The game started at 23:00, Dominican time.
Pitch duel
The first five halves turned into a great duel between pitchers Carlos Martínez, for Aguila, and Manuel Campos, for the Federation.
Tsunami accepted a single hit, which came in the fourth, a double by David Rodríguez after two outs.
While Campos took a shot on Jonathan Villar, with one in the third.
However, the situation was complicated for both the sixth, Martínez gave a ticket to Rodrigo Orozco opening the entrance and anchored in the anteroom due to a wrong shot he made at first trying to catch him, then filled the bases after hitting Allen Córdoba and David Rodríguez, the latter decreed the departure of the Cardinals pitcher, Luis Castillo entered and forced Héctor Gómez to crawl through the anteroom.
In the sixth, the Eagles managed to score against Campos, Juan Lagares and Robinson Canó hit one after the other after an outing, and Ronald Guzmán produced a double on the center field that brought his teammates to the Pentagon for the first two races.
But, this advantage did not last long and the Federations equalized the actions of the seventh by a single by Rodrigo Vigil, who was withdrawn after a shot by Belarmino Campos, Jhonny Santos dragged through the shortstop, which shot Canó, but not he could hold the ball. and they all came safely, while Orozco made a simple right, leading in both rounds of equality.
YOU KNOW MORE
– I’m going to finish this game.
Carlos Paulino
When he noticed that the stage provided an opportunity for Aguila to win the match, he informed his colleague Francisco Peña. “I’m going to finish it, I told him,” added the receiver, who said it was the most important hit of his career.
Cano a terrible defensive series
With the bat, Canó brought his contributions for Quisqueyanos, not the same as the defense in which he made two mistakes yesterday, which reached four in the event. The eagles committed six on a regular basis, and yesterday they had five
Assistance
A 10% increase in attendance to the semifinals and finals was allowed.