Mets prospects continue to produce
Fernando Martinez from the Dominican Republic & Jesus Feliciano from Puerto Rico
Day 5 posed intriguing matchups. If Mexico were to beat the Dominican Republic, they would be tied for the top spot. The rematch started off promising for Mexico as they collected two hits in the first inning off of Dominican starter Heath Phillips. The big hit came from first baseman Luis Garcia, who hit a two-run homerun to give Mexico an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, the Dominican Republic got a two-run homer of their own, courtesy of Kevin Barker. Barker’s blast was crushed off Mexican starter Walter Silva.
Unfortunately for Mexico, Phillips settled in after the first inning. He gave up just one more hit and finished his outing retiring 13 in a row. Phillips struck out seven in his seven innings of work.
Silva on the other hand, never found a rhythm. In the third inning, Juan Francisco (Reds) delivered a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fourth inning, left fielder Fernando Martinez (Mets) blasted a solo homerun. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Francisco hit a fly ball that just carried out of the ballpark for a two-run homerun. Silva gave up eight hits and six runs in just 4.1 innings.
Relievers Joel Peralta and Julio Manon (who earned the save) combined to deliver the Dominicans a 7-2 win. The Dominican Republic improved to 4-1 while Mexico dropped to 2-3.
The night game pitted two American pitchers against each other for their respective teams. Puerto Rico, who started out 0-2, was looking to win three in a row and keep pace with the Dominican Republic. They sent Brodie Downs (Mariners) to the mound against Venezuela’s Heath Totten. It was a pitcher’s duel early on, but Puerto Rico broke through against Totten in the third inning. Puerto Rico strung together three straight two-out hits capped by Luis Figueroa’s RBI single.
Danny Valencia celebrates his HR
In the top of the fifth inning, third baseman Danny Valencia (Twins) blasted a solo homerun off the left field foul pole. After an error by shortstop Marwin Gonzalez put runners at first and third, Puerto Rico’s leftfielder Miguel Abreu (Orioles) grounded into a double play but a run scored. Centerfielder Jesus Feliciano (Mets) followed with a solo homerun. All-in-all, Totten gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits in just 4.2 innings.
Through four innings, Downs had yet to give up a hit. In the fifth, catcher Jose Lobaton collected Venezuela’s first hit (and his first hit in the series). That ended Downs’ evening as he walked four and hit two batters in four plus innings. Efrain Nieves (Brewers) came in and gave up just a sacrifice fly to second baseman Luis Maza (Phillies) to make the score 4-1. Nieves went 2.2 innings in relief without allowing a run while striking out three. Puerto Rico broke the game open against Venezuelan relievers Rayner Oliveros and Gabriel Garcia in the sixth. Shortstop Angel Sanchez and catcher Edwards Guzman collected RBI singles and Feliciano delivered an RBI fielder’s choice.
Nieves earned the 7-1 win in relief to help Puerto Rico improve to 3-2. Totten took the loss as host Venezuela dropped to 1-4. Now Day 6’s games are meaningful. Puerto Rico will go against Mexico in the afternoon. If Puerto Rico wins, that forces a must win game for the Dominican Republic at night against Venezuela. If Venezuela plays spoiler, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will play Monday for the Caribbean Series championship.
Tags:
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Recent Comments