The Cangrejeros de Santurce followed a walk-off in extra innings in Game 1 of the LBPRC championship series with a dominant performance at the plate and on the mound in Game 2 at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Jan, Puerto Rico.
With the 8-2 victory on Tuesday night against the Leones de Ponce, Santurce is two wins away from clinching a spot at the 2026 Caribbean Series in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Though so early in the game, the difference maker was a five-run second inning from the Cangrejeros. Catcher Brian Navarreto opened the scoring with an RBI single against Leones starter Orlando Ortiz-Mayr. The lead was extended to three on Jack Lopez’s RBI forceout and Ruben Castro’s run-scoring base knock.
Ortiz-Mayr departed after 1 ⅔ frames but was responsible for the two runs that scored on first baseman Yohandy Morales’ two-run double to inflate Santurce’s lead to 5-0.
Cangrejeros right-hander Eduardo Rivera completed six innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits while striking out four. Emmanuel Rivera’s sacrifice fly in the third and solo homer in the sixth contributed to Ponce’s only runs of the night. With runners on first and second in the seventh, reliever David Lebron managed to strike out Rivera swinging on four pitches to end the Leones’ scoring threat.
Lebron, an ex-Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles farmhand, pitched a scoreless eighth for Santurce, striking out Alex Dickerson – Ponce’s hero in Game 1 of the series, who hit a game-tying two-run homer with two outs in the ninth on Monday.
With runners on second and third, Santurce added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a swinging bunt from Morales down the third base line. Charging the ball at third for the Leones was Rivera, whose throwing error to first gave the Cangrejeros runner from second, Jack Lopez, an opportunity to aggressively round third and slide home safely.
Bryan Escanio threw a perfect inning in the ninth for the Cangrejeros, locking down the Game 2 win.
The LBPRC championship series resumes Thursday 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/
