Caguas, Santurce & Mayagüez pick up wins in LBPRC
By THE STAR STAFF
The Criollos of Caguas, Cangrejeros of Santurce and Indios of Mayagüez all earned victories on Tuesday night in the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC by its initials in Spanish).
At Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium in Caguas, the Criollos handed the Gigantes of Carolina their second-straight loss, 3-2, after a 4-0 start.
Luis Vázquez homered to tie the game in the fourth inning, and drove in what would be the winning run with a line drive to center field as Caguas improved to 3-1.
The Criollos’ right-handed import Jarrett Whorff (1-0) was credited with the win after pitching one inning, while left-hander Miguel Auzua (1-1) took the loss for Carolina (4-2) after allowing the winning run. Right-hander José Espada earned his first save of the season.
Elsewhere, outfielder Johneshwy Fargas and shortstop Andrew Velázquez both hit home runs, while veteran Anthony García went 4-for-4 at the plate to help the Cangrejeros defeat the Senadores of San Juan 7-4 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey.
Santurce (4-2) now shares the top spot in the standings with Carolina. San Juan fell to 1-3.
Miguel Mejía (1-1) earned the win for his one inning of work, during which he allowed only two hits. Right-hander Jack Hartman (1) earned the save. The loss was charged to Iván Houllemont (0-1) after allowing two runs over his two innings of work.
At Francisco “Paquito” Montaner Stadium in Ponce, the Indios defeated the Leones 3-2 in 10 innings.
With the game tied 1-1 at the end of the ninth inning, the tie-breaker rule was applied, placing a runner in scoring position for each team. The Indios (2-4) began the 10th with Abraham Toro at second base, and Darren Baker reached base following catcher interference by Ponce’s William Simoneit. Two batters later, Rubén Castro reached first on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Emmanuel Rivera then delivered a ground ball to center field to give the Indios a 3-1 lead.
Ponce (2-4) managed to score a run in the bottom half of the inning on a single by first baseman Austin Murr, but Mayagüez’s Luis Quiñones retired the next two batters to end the game.
Right-hander Jorge López earned his second win of the year, stifling the Leones’ lineup and recording three strikeouts over two innings. The loss went to Ryan Murphy (0-1), who allowed two runs in his four innings of work. Quiñones notched his first save of the season.
