Caguas, Carolina & Santurce win in LBPRC

By THE STAR STAFF

The Caguas Criollos, Carolina Giants and Santurce Crabbers won their respective games on Wednesday night in the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC by its initials in Spanish).

Caguas won its second-straight game (after notching its first win of the season in its previous outing), blanking the San Juan Senators 2-0.

The Criollos opened the scoring after Nelson Velázquez led off the fourth inning with a double. After Noah Myers’ sacrifice bunt advanced Velázquez to third base, Senators (Senadores) manager Robinson Cancel pulled starter Jarrod Cande and brought in Ivan Hollemont. The right-hander retired Aledmys Díaz on a fly ball and walked Elijah Durham. Then, with runners on the corners, Jancarlos Cintrón hit a single that rolled into center field to put the home team up 1-0.

The Criollos struck again when Bryan Torres led off the fifth inning with an infield single. Shortstop Luis Vázquez followed with a hit off reliever Sidney Duprey, and an error on the throw by the left-hander to first base allowed Torres to reach home for Caguas’ second run.

The win went to right-hander Roel Ramírez (1-0), who pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief, striking out two batters. His teammate José Espada earned his second save of the season. Cande (0-2) took the loss, allowing one run in three and one-third innings.

The Giants (Gigantes) put on a hitting display at Francisco “Paquito” Montaner Stadium in Ponce, meanwhile, handing the Lions (Leones) a 10-1 loss.

Carolina improved to 6-2 and remained in second place in the winter league standings. Ponce stands in third place with a 5-3 record.

An error on a throw by Lions shortstop Edwin Díaz after a hit by Deniel Ortiz allowed J.D. González to score the Giants’ first run in the top of the third inning.

In the following inning, González drove in Carolina’s second run with his second single of the night, while leadoff hitter Gabriel Cancel sacrificed in the next at-bat to extend the lead to 3-0. The Giants’ offense didn’t stop there. Johnathan Rodríguez followed with a double to left field, prompting the exit of Lions starter Orlando Ortiz-Mayr and bringing on José Solá in relief. With two runners on, Ortiz then connected on a hard line drive to make it 5-0.

The Giants relied on their single production, small-ball movement and speed on the bases in the fifth inning, scoring five more runs to extend the lead to 10-0.

Ponce scored its first run of the game on a line drive single to left field in the seventh inning.

Right-hander José Cruz earned his second win of the season for Carolina after pitching 1 2/3 innings without allowing any runs, striking out one batter. Ortiz-Mayr (0-1) took the loss for Ponce, allowing five runs, four of them earned, in three and two-thirds innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four.

Finally, the Crabbers (Cangrejeros) got back on track after dropping their first game of the season a day earlier, defeating the Indians 7-2 at Isidoro “Cholo” García Stadium in Mayagüez.

Santurce remained in first place with a 7-1 record, while Mayagüez sits in fourth place at 3-5.

A sacrifice fly by Johneshwy Fargas and a single by Shed Long Jr. gave the Crabbers two runs early in the game.

The Indians (Indios) narrowed the gap in the third inning when Anthony García hit a ground ball to left field, allowing Emmanuel Rivera to score and make it 2-1.

Santurce answered two innings later when import Spencer Packard drove in his 10th run of the season with a line drive to right field, making it 3-1.

In the seventh, Jalen Miller stole home to bring the Indians within a run, 3-2. Santurce pulled away in the ninth, however, scoring four runs on consecutive doubles by Rubén Castro and Fargas to seal the victory.

The win went to José Peña (2-0), who allowed one run in two innings. Left-hander Luis Leroy Cruz (1-2) took the loss, allowing three runs in four and two-thirds innings.