Lenadores de Las Tunas 31, Santa Maria Pirates 7 – The Lenadores took the axes to the Pirates, clubbing 10 doubles and five homers as they romped over the Pirates in their first game at the BCL Americas. Rafael Vinales went 5-for-7 with seven RBIs for Las Tunas, homering twice and doubling while also hitting a pair of singles. After four innings, Las Tunas led 16-0, and were only held off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh – an inning where they still managed to load the bases. Swindly Lint homered for Santa Maria, which fell to 1-1 in group play.
Tigres de Chinandega 14, Titanes de Florida 9 – Starter Ronald Medrano lasted just two innings for the Tigres, who found themselves in a 9-0 hole after four before coming all the way back over the final five innings to win their opener at the BCL Americas.
Medrano, who was stellar over the winter with the Charros de Jalisco of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, allowed seven runs, six of them earned, on eight hits in just two innings before handing off the ball.
Omar Mendoza and Brandon Leyton homered in the fifth to spark the rally for the Tigres, who scored five in the fifth and sixth in the seventh to take the lead, and then added one in the eighth and two in the ninth to cap the win.
Pitching Struggling at the BCL Americas – Pitching has been less than stellar at this tournament, which can be expected, given the venue. As anyone who has been to Mexico City can tell you, the altitude makes doing everything — even walking long distances — difficult if you aren’t well acclimated.
As World Baseball Network noted last year when former National League Cy Young award winner Trevor Bauer pitched for the Diablos Rojos, Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu is at an altitude of approximately 7,300 feet, nearly half a mile higher than Coors Field in Denver, the home of Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies and the highest elevation in MLB.
The altitude works against pitchers in two ways — for one, pitches break less, as the lower air pressure at altitude means that pitchers have to impart more spin on the ball at altitude to get the same amount of break they would get at a lower elevation. Secondly, pitching is largely an anaerobic activity, meaning that a pitcher expends energy in short bursts rather than over long, sustained periods of time. But due to the lower oxygen content of the atmosphere, pitchers can’t recover as quickly after each pitch, meaning that they tire faster.