The Eastern Stars and Leones del Escogido start the miniseries at 3-2 this Sunday to define the last place in the semifinals of the professional baseball tournament in the Dominican Republic.
Pachyderms (15-15) and Scarlets (14-16) took fourth and fifth place, respectively, which sent them into this qualifying phase, the winner of which will be measured against the pioneers Gigantes del Cibao.
Las Águilas Cibaeñas, ranked second; and Toros del Ese, national and Caribbean champions who took third place, are the protagonists of the other key to the semifinals that will start on January 2 until the best 7-4.
The regular round ended with a triple tie at the top between Giants, Vultures and Bulls, with signs of 16-14, but the fangs won the special series their rivals and placed first in the table. The Tigers were in the basement at 13-17.
Stars will have as a novelty in the post-season the integrations of the stars Robinson Canó, the second base for New York Metros and Fernando Tatis Jr., shortstop for San Diego Padres, informed the vice-president of the player development team, Fernando Tatisl Tatis.
The Greens are confident that Canó and Tatis Jr. will inject more respect and production into their lineup, which included power bats from Domingo Leyba and Junior Lake, with four home runs each on a regular basis, though Lake will not be available. due to an injury.
In addition, Lewin Díaz, Socrates Brito and Rookie of the Year, Jeremy Peña, fourth in fights with .306, who sent three individual homers; Rainel Rosario hit two, and that the American Eric Filia wakes up at the level he showed in the past playoffs.
Canó participated with Stars for the last time during a single game in the 2016-2017 regular season and is serving a full penalty for next season in Major League Baseball for repeated use of banned substances after one of 80 games in 2018 with Seattle Mariners.
Tatis Jr. was the key in the elephant crown in the 2018-2019 season, which broke a drought of more than 50 years, where his father was the leader.
The green leader, the Venezuelan José Alguacil, will send him on the right Radhamés Liz to the mound in the first match against the reds, who had three starts without decisions and an ERA of 5.87 in regular, followed by the Panamanian Andy Otero (1-2, 1.10 ) and Edwin Uceta (0-1, 2.45).
The Scarlets will feature an artillery led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., averaging .359 and two home runs in 10 regular games.
Likewise, they will depend on the offensive contributions of Franchy Cordero, Estevan Florial, Luis Liberato, Wilkin Castillo and Aderlin Rodríguez, who impressed with two homers, a pair of doubles and one in three games and 14 at bat.
Lions general manager José Gómez Frías has announced that the American right David Kubiak (1-0), leader in the ERA (1.73) and attacks (32), awarded as Pitcher of the Year, will take the mound against the East.
Enny Romero (0-2, 3.95) and Puerto Rican Miguel Martínez (0-1, 4.70) complete the rotation of the red boss, the American Dave Jauss.
Hairy men end up with fewer losses than their opponents in this phase due to injuries and other causes, such as the absences of Gregory Polanco, Otto López, Venezuelan Luis Rengifo and Americans Joe Dunand, third in the fight with .319, and Brett Sullivan, among others. other players and position players.
The first match this Sunday will be at the Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro de Macorís (east), and will continue on Monday at the Quisqueya-Juan Marichal Stadium in Santo Domingo. If necessary, a third decisive match will return to Tetelo Vargas Park.