The Cangrejeros de Santurce can practically smell the Caribbean Series.
They are two wins away from booking a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, following a 6-3 Game 3 victory against the Leones de Ponce on Thursday night at Estadio Francisco Montaner in Ponce, Puerto Rico, taking a 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine series.
Santurce was on the scoreboard first with a first-inning sacrifice fly from Nelson Velazquez. They followed up with back-to-back homers off Leones starting pitcher Jackson Goddard in the third–a two-run shot from Yohandy Morales and a solo homer from Velazquez. Goddard had not allowed a home run and posted a 1.54 ERA in 23 ⅓ regular-season innings.
The Leones managed five hits in four innings against Collin Wiles, Santurce’s starter, and finished the game 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, failing to capitalize on solid opportunities in the early going to cut the deficit. Wiles struck out five and walked one in his outing.
Jeremy Arocho’s run-scoring sacrifice bunt and Morales’ RBI double extended Santurce’s lead to 6-0 in the seventh. Leones reliever Brandon Kaminer had a rough go of it earlier in the frame. Andrew Velazquez struck out swinging to leadoff the inning, but Kaminer’s wild pitch allowed him to reach first. He then overthrew first on Johneshwy Fargas’ sac bunt, moving Velazquez to third base and Fargas to second.
Ponce rallied to plate three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but it was too little too late. Former New York Mets and Chicago Cubs reliever Robert Gsellman recorded the save for Santurce, inducing a groundout from catcher William Simoneit for the last out.
If baseball determined a winner based on hits, the Leones would have won convincingly. They outhit the Cangrejeros 12-6, but unfortunately for them, the run column is what matters most. Ponce now faces elimination.
The LBPRC championship series resumes Friday at 6 p.m. EST at Estadio Francisco Montaner in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Where to Watch: Puerto Rico’s LBPRC streams its games live on its YouTube page and on the league’s official app, available on the App Store and Google Play.
WBN Puerto Rico: https://worldbaseball.com/league/puerto-rico/
