Díaz Secures San Juan’s Victory: Senators remain on a roll with three consecutive wins.

By THE STAR STAFF

A sacrifice fly by Randal Díaz in the tenth inning kept the San Juan Senators on the winning track with a 4–3 victory over the Carolina Giants in the continuation of the Brava Lubricants Cup of the 2025–2026 Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC in Spanish).

With the score tied 3–3 at the end of the ninth inning, the tie-breaker rule went into effect, placing a runner on second base with no outs for both teams at the start of every extra inning.

The inning started with the speedy Delvin Pérez at second, and Roberto Hernández going down on strikes. Pérez advanced to within 90 feet of home on a wild pitch from reliever Ricardo Vélez, setting up the sacrifice fly that delivered San Juan’s third straight win. The Senators now tie the Mayagüez Indios and the Caguas Criollos for fourth place in La Pro standings with a 4–8 record. Meanwhile, Carolina remains in second place tied with the Ponce Leones at 7–5.

Vélez (0–1) took the loss after allowing the winning run in two innings of work, while Japanese pitcher Minato Aoyama (1–0) earned the victory despite giving up a run in one inning. Alexander Castro recorded his first save of the season.

Beyond the final result, what really hurt the Giants were their errors. A throwing error to first base by Japanese second baseman Ryuta Hirose, on a grounder from Darlin Moquete, gave the Senators their first run in the fourth inning.

The Giants turned to their specialty—small ball—to create their first threat. Import Josh Hatcher opened the fifth with a weak grounder handled by Senators starter Brady Tedesco. After striking out Yasser Mercedes, Carolina catcher Roberto “Bebo” Peña hit a single to place runners on first and second. Tedesco was replaced by Iván Houllemont, who walked leadoff hitter Gabriel Cancel to load the bases. Immediately afterward, Johnathan Rodríguez hit a double near the left-field wall, bringing in two runs and giving Carolina a 2–1 lead.

The Senators came back in the eighth inning, capitalizing on two defensive errors. After one out, Randal Díaz reached first on an error by Giants third baseman Deniel Ortiz. Yariel González followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners. Then, a mistake by shortstop Gabriel Cancel—letting a grounder go between his legs—allowed San Juan to tie the game 2–2. In the next at-bat, Jadiel Sánchez hit a sacrifice fly to put the Senators ahead 3–2.

A sacrifice fly by Cancel brought the crowd at Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium to life, driving in the tying run, 3–3, on the legs of Ezequiel Pagán, who had entered as a pinch hitter and opened the Giants’ ninth-inning offense with a triple.

Santurce earns its tenth victory

The Santurce Crabbers defeated the Mayagüez Indios for the second consecutive night, this time 5–2 at their home, Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

It was the tenth win for the Crabbers, while the Indios suffered their eighth loss in the first 12 games of the season.

Santurce took a decisive step in the bottom of the second when Shed Long Jr. homered to right field to score the Crabbers’ first run. In the next inning, the Indios turned the scoreboard in their favor, 2–1, with singles by Isan Díaz and Anthony García.

A deep double to center by Roy Morales allowed Spencer Packard to race home all the way from first to tie the game 2–2 in the fourth inning. Then a single by Rubén Castro forced Indios starter Jorge López out of the game, replaced by Josimar Cousin. With runners on the corners, Cousin retired Long Jr. and Brian Rey on grounders for two outs, but Morales scored on Rey’s grounder to give Santurce a 3–2 lead.

The Crabbers pulled away 5–2 in the fifth inning with another RBI single by Castro to left.

Indios third baseman Emmanuel Rivera went 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to nine games.

Left-handed reliever Jordan Morales (1–0) earned the win in one-third of an inning. His teammate Brian Escanio secured his first save of the season. For the Indios, López (0–1) took the loss after allowing three earned runs in three innings.