MEXICALI, Mexico – Henry Blanco’s Cardenales de Lara desperately needed a win, and they got one Monday afternoon, capitalizing on timely hitting to defeat Puerto Rico’s Indios de Mayaguez 10-5.
With the win, the Cardenales, champions of the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional, improved to 1-2, while the Indios fell to 1-2, despite shortstop Eduardo Garcia making three errors in the first three innings.
“It was an interesting win, but we did it. We got the win against ourselves,” said Blanco, the Cardenales manager, in Spanish following the win. “We beat them in every turn, we beat them with men on base. I think that our aggressiveness today was the key. We didn’t do it in the first games.”
Danny Ortiz led off the bottom of the second inning for Puerto Rico, reaching first base on a fielding error by Cardenales de Lara shortstop Eduardo Garcia. Eddie Rosario hit a grounder to first baseman Rangel Ravelo, who threw the ball over to Garcia covering second base to get the force out, then Garcia airmailed the return throw past pitcher Adrian Almeida, who was covering first in hopes of a 3-6-1 double play. Ortiz came in to score for a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Marco Feliciano ripped a line drive single into right field, scoring Rosario and making it 2-0.
In the top of the third inning, the Cardenales’ Iledemaro Vargas drove a two-out double into the right field corner, scoring Garcia to cut the deficit to one.
Puerto Rico jumped on Almeida in the bottom of the third inning, when Ortiz launched a three-run home run over the right field wall, scoring Emmanuel Rivera and Anthony Garcia, to make it 5-1. Cardenales de Lara manager Henry Blanco immediately went to his bullpen for Robinson Hernandez to replace Almeida.
Almeida faced 13 batters and threw 2 ⅓ innings, allowing five runs, only three of which were earned, on three hits, two walks, and notched two strikeouts Monday afternoon.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Cardenales de Lara offense chipped away at the lead. Jose Rondon reached on a fielder’s choice when Puerto Rico third baseman Isan Diaz made a throwing error, allowing Alexi Amarista to score and 5-2.
Indios de Mayaguez manager Wilfredo Cordero went to his bullpen and called on relief pitcher Julian Garcia to replace starter Daryl Thompson. Thompson threw three innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, and one walk, while facing 14 batters, throwing 41 pitches with 27 strikes.
In the top of the seventh inning, Hernan Perez drilled a one-out, two-run double to left field, scoring Ravelo and Rondon to give the Cardenales a 7-5 lead.
“Coming into that moment, I didn’t have good opportunities before in the game,” Perez aid. “I didn’t do my job in those moments. I got a good approach, and the ball went for a double.”
An inning later, Ravelo stayed hot and cranked a line drive two-run single into left field, scoring Hernandez and Amarista to extend the lead to 9-5.
The Indios de Mayagüez (1-2) will play the Leones del Escogido (2-1) on February 4 at 5 p.m. EST on MLB Network and ESPN Deportes. The Cardenales de Lara (1-2) will play the Japan Breeze (0-2) on February 4 at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN Deportes and MLB Network.
