MEXICALI, Mexico – Two crucial errors in the top of the ninth by Venezuela’s Cardenales de Lara allowed Michael Wielansky to score the game-winning run for Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco in the Saturday nightcap at the Caribbean Series.
With one out in the top of the ninth, Wielansky ripped a double off the left field wall. He advanced to third when the next batter, Mateo Gil, hit a hot shot to second that Venezuela second baseman Ildemaro Vargas couldn’t handle, and then scored when Cardenales’ first baseman Rangel Ravelo couldn’t come up with Julian Ornelas‘ grounder, giving the Charros a 2-1 lead.
It held up, and the Charros improved to 2-0 to the delight of the home crowd, while Venezuela’s Cardenales fell to 0-2 at this year’s Serie del Caribe.
Batting in the second spot, where he’d been slotted most of the winter season with the Charros, Wielansky felt comfortable despite facing solid pitchers.
“It’s pretty easy knowing that if I don’t get the job done, the guys behind me are going to do it,” Wielansky said. “And yeah, both teams, the pitching’s been nasty. And we just got to get in there, get a pitch we can hit. And luckily, I was able to do that.”
For five innings, Charros de Jalisco starter Manny Banuelos and Cardenales de Lara starter Jimmy Endersby duked it out on the mound.
“I was feeling really good commanding the ball, throwing fastballs in and outside,” Banuelos said. “Later in the game, we started using the change-ups, so that worked a lot for us to keep them out of balance. And then the last two innings, I started working with my breaking ball, which I started executing for a strike and for strikeouts.”
When Endersby left the game, he’d allowed just one run on three hits, and an inning later, Banuelos made his exit having allowed a run on five hits.
In the bottom of the fourth, Rangel Ravelo singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jose Rondon singled up the middle and Ravelo chugged home from second to give the Cardenales a 1-0 lead.
An inning later, Rudy Martin singled up the middle for the Charros, then stole second and third on successive pitches. Facing a 3-2 count, Donovan Casey hit a sac fly to center, and Martin beat the throw to the plate by Venezuela center fielder Gorkys Hernandez to tie the game at one apiece.
Anthony Vizcaya came on to pitch the sixth for Lara and promptly walked Billy Hamilton, but Wielansky grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, and Gil popped out to end the inning. Alex Scherff threw a perfect seventh, and Brian McKenna retired the side in order in the eight for Lara.
In the top of the ninth, Arnaldo Hernandez came on, and the pair of errors doomed the Cardenales and pinned the hurler with the impressive dreadlocks with the loss.
“I think we played two good goals, but we were not lucky,” said Lara manager Henry Blanco in Spanish following the game. “We had a chance to… but unfortunately we lost with the defense. It’s part of the game too, unfortunately it’s like that.”
For Benji Gil, his Charros are in the catbird seat with a 2-0 record heading into tomorrow night’s game against the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido. A win tomorrow night would almost certainly clinch the top seed heading into Wednesday’s semifinals.
For the Cardenales, their backs may not be against the wall, but to be 0-2 is certainly not where they want to be.
“I think the team is going to improve,” Blanco said. “We don’t have another task but winning game three. Obviously the concentration and the offensive part must be a little better. And I think we have been against the wall several times this year and we just have to get out there again.”
Venezuela’s Cardenales de Lara are off on Sunday, and returns to action Monday at 12:50 EST against Puerto Rico’s Indios de Mayaguez. Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco will face the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido in the nightcap at 8:50 p.m. EST. Every game of the 2025 Caribbean Series is televised on MLB Network in English and on ESPN Deportes in Spanish.
WBN Caribbean Series: https://worldbaseball.com/league/serie-del-caribe/
Photo Credit: Rudy Martin dives for the plate ahead of the throw from the outfield to score Mexico’s first run in a. 2-1 win against Venezuela. (Photo Courtesy of CBPC)
