Santurce, Carolina notch wins in LBPRC
By THE STAR STAFF
The Cangrejeros of Santurce and the Gigantes of Carolina both emerged victorious on Saturday night in a pair of games in the early going of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (LBPRC by its initials in Spanish) season.
Adam Zembrowski’s sacrifice fly to deep center field in the fifth inning gave the Cangrejeros a four-run cushion, 7-3, and Santurce added three more runs in the seventh en route to a 10-5 win over the Indios in Mayagüez.
The win went to left-hander Keylan Killgore (1-0), who allowed one run in one-third of an inning, while the loss was charged to starting right-hander Eddie Demurias (0-1), who gave up five runs over three and two-thirds innings.
Elsewhere, a two-run home run by Lisbel Díaz in the 10th inning secured a 5-4 victory for the Gigantes over the Leones of Ponce at Francisco “Paquito” Montaner Stadium in Ponce.
It was the undefeated Gigantes’ fourth consecutive win of the season, extending their lead over the rest of the league. Ponce dropped to 1-3.
With the game tied 3-3 after nine innings, the tie-breaker rule was applied, placing a runner in scoring position for each team at the start of the inning. The Gigantes began the frame with Miguel Pabón on second base. Adrián Rodríguez laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Pabón to third, and Díaz then hit the game-winning home run.
In the bottom of the inning, Jesmuel Valentín drove in Ponce’s fourth run of the game, but Alexander Castro (1-0) firmed up on the mound and contained the Leones’ threat, earning the win, allowing three hits and one run in two innings. The loss went to Gabriel Rodríguez (0-1), who gave up two runs -- one of them earned -- in his one inning of work.
The game between the Criollos of Caguas and the Senadores of San Juan was postponed due to field conditions following heavy rain that fell throughout the day at Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium in Caguas.
It was the second game between the two teams to be postponed. The matchup has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15 as part of a doubleheader in which both games will be seven innings.
