The extended 13-day inactivity did not set foot in Criollos at the start of the final series of the Professional Baseball League Roberto Clemente (Lbprc).
The Caguas team came out strong on Thursday and together with a phenomenal work of the titular player José de León obtained the first victory with 4-0 over the Mayagüez Indians at the beginning of the fight for the winter baseball title in a game played in Hiram Bithorn stadium.
“We play excellent baseball. Today (Thursday) all the exemptors who came did the job. It was a great night for us, and even so Ramón’s defensive movements paid off quickly. It was one of those nights where, as they say, everything comes out, but the team continued to work in this direction “, said De Jesús after the match.
Caguas was offensively productive from the start, when catcher Yadier Molina, who is listed as a designated hitter, opened in Creole uniforming by connecting before the first, sent a triple RBI – which was even revised for that it could have been considered a home run when it reached the top of the fence – and that gave it the first two races of the duel.
Then, Víctor Caratini, the other major leagues that were reactivated by Criollos, did the same thing by connecting a hit to lead his counterpart Molina and thus reached the third race only in the first half of the game.
In the fourth half, the sacrifice of Jonathan Morales took the fourth score of Criollos from the feet of Jancarlos Cintron.
Left De León silenced the Indians’ offense with 12 shots and only two shots allowed in six innings. Rescuers Anthony Maldonado, Zach Muckenhirn and Fernando Cruz covered the rest of the trip.
“I was out for two weeks and thank God I managed to throw six innings and throw as deep as possible to give the team a chance to win. It was a really good night, “De Jesús said, also acknowledging that Criollos’ early lead in the first half gave him enough confidence in the rest of the game.
Left-hander Héctor Hernández took the back for the Indians. In seven innings he lost six shots and three runs.
The second match of the final series will take place on Friday at 18:00 at the Isidoro “Cholo” García de Mayagüez Stadium.
The third and fourth games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, from 6:00 pm.
If necessary, the fifth game will be Monday, January 25th. While the sixth and seventh games would have been played on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.