Indians, Crabbers & Criollos win winter league games

Jesmuel Valentín and the Ponce Lions took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but Mayagüez answered with four runs in the third.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Mayagüez Indians, Santurce Crabbers and Caguas Criollos won their respective games Saturday night in Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League play.

A four-run rally in the third inning gave host Mayagüez a 4-3 win over the Ponce Lions.

The Indians’ (Indios’) productive inning ended the Lions’ (Leones’) defensive scoreless innings streak at 32. Ponce fell to 10-6, but kept hold on second place in the league (LBPRC by its initials in Spanish) standings. The Indians, meanwhile, improved to 8-8 and moved into third place.

The key in the Indians’ fourth was two singles by Jalen Miller and Eddie Rosario, and a double by Emanuel Rivera. Powered by those hits, Mayagüez rallied for a 4-3 lead against Japanese starter Kazuto Taguchi.

The Lions scored their three runs in the first inning, taking advantage of the wildness of Indians starter Jorge López. With the bases loaded, López first walked Antony Calarco and then hit William Simoneit with a pitch. It was the second hit batter of the inning, as the right-hander had also hit Alex Dickerson after giving up hits to Dalton Guthrie and Jesmuel Valentín. Later, D’Shawn Knowles hit a sacrifice fly to give Ponce a 3-0 lead.

Left-hander Taguchi (2-2) was charged with the loss, pitching three and a third innings. Meanwhile, right-hander Lucas Vega earned his second win of the season, allowing only one hit in three and a third innings. Reliever Carlos Francisco recorded his second save of the season.

Elsewhere, the Crabbers (Cangrejeros) scored four runs in the 11th inning to secure a 6-3 victory at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey.

With the score tied 1-1, the tiebreaker rule for the regular season was activated. Under the rule, a runner is placed on second base for both teams at the start of each inning, with no outs, if the score remains tied at the end of the ninth inning.

Both teams scored runs to tie the game again in the 10th. Santurce scored on a sacrifice fly by Jack López, and San Juan scored on a single by Yariel González.

However, the Santurce offense got after right-hander Raúl Rivera in the top of the 11th. Roy Morales and Rubén Castro hit singles to drive in Henry Ramos, making it 3-2. Shed Long Jr. followed with another single, and Bryan Rey hit a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing in another run for the Crabbers. Two at-bats later, López sealed the victory by driving in two more runs, making it 6-2.

A single by Delvin Pérez gave the Senators (Senadores) their third run of the game in their half of the 11th.

The Crabbers struck first in the fifth in a game marked to that point by solid pitching. With one out, Brian Navarreto drew a walk off Senators starter Rubén Ramírez, and López drove him in with a single to right field, making it 1-0.

Santurce’s lead was short-lived. In the top of the sixth, with two outs, reliever Miguel Mejía loaded the bases and allowed the tying run while allowing two walks in the frame.

Left-hander Jordan Morales (3-0) earned the win, allowing one run in one inning. Rivera (2-1) took the loss, surrendering five runs in two innings.

Santurce secured their 12th win of the season in their first 16 games, maintaining their lead in the tournament. San Juan fell to last place with a 5-11 record.

Finally, outfielder Bryan Torres homered and drove in two runs to lead the Criollos to a 6-1 victory over the Carolina

Giants at Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium in Caguas.

It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Giants (Gigantes), who dropped to fifth place in the LBPRC with a 7-9 record. Behind them are the Criollos at 6-10.

A solo home run by Bryan Torres to right field opened the scoring, putting Caguas up 1-0 in the first inning. The Giants tied the game in the third when Johnathan Rodríguez drove in a run with a powerful line drive to center field.

The Criollos regained the lead in the sixth inning after Giants pitcher Ángel Reyes walked Vimael Machín and threw a wild pitch, making the score 3-1. The Criollos added two more runs on a passed ball by catcher Alan Espinal and a groundout by Elijah Dunham, making it 5-1.

Torres doubled in another run for Caguas in the seventh inning.

The win went to Luke Taggart (3-0) after he pitched one and two-thirds scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Left-hander R.J. Martínez (1-2) took the loss for Carolina after surrendering three runs in his five and one-third innings of work.