Opening Day of the 2024-2025 season for the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League came and went and what a day it was for the Magallanes. In the inaugural game for the season, the Navegantes del Magallanes faced off against the 2023-2024 Caribbean Series champions Tiburones de La Guaira and upset them 12-0. The 2024-2025 season marks the first time that the LVBP scheduled a single game that was meant to celebrate the last season’s title winners, but in a turn of events, the reigning champs got embarrassed.
The Magallanes put up a dominant 18 total hits including three home runs to topple Tiburones, and Magallenes starter, former MLB pitcher Junior Guerra, provided a performance on the mound to match. Guerra shut down La Guaira’s offense, finishing with a line of six inning pitched, two hits, no earned runs, six strikeouts, and the win.
The offensive run kicked off in the second inning for Magallanes, with a solo home run from Renato Nunez. After that the Navegantes went on a tear scoring four runs in the third inning, three in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one run each in the sixth and seventh innings. Nunez, Pete O’Brien, and Keon Barnum combined for eleven of the twelve Magallanes runs scored.
The game proved to be a great victory for new Navegantes del Magallanes manager, Eddie Pérez. Perez was brought on as the new manager of the Magallanes during the offseason, only arriving in Venezuela a day prior to the game. “I never thought I would manage in Venezuela again. I was waiting for an offer in MLB that never came and when this came up, I didn’t hesitate,” said Pérez at the Estadio Universitario. Pérez previously managed the Tigres de Aragua in the LVBP, leading them to a league title during the 2015-2016 season. He also has been a part of the Atlanta Braves’ coaching staff since 2007 and was a catcher in Major League Baseball for 11 years with the Braves, the Cleveland Indians, and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Catch more stories and recaps of the LVBP right here at worldbaseball.com.
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WBN Venezuela: https://worldbaseball.com/league/venezuela/
Photo Credit: Venezuela’s starting pitcher Junior Guerra throws during the Caribbean Series baseball match against Colombia at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal stadium in Santo Domingo, n January 28, 2022. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP) (Photo by FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)
