With a trip on the line to the Caribbean Series in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Cangrejeros de Santurce and Leones de Ponce will meet in this year’s Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente best-of-seven championship series.
The last time these two clubs met in the LBPRC championship series was during the 1972-73 season, with the Cangrejeros winning in six games.
Before diving into how both of these clubs got here and learn more about the players, let’s take a look at their respective regular-season performances.
Santurce finished the regular season in first place in the six-team league with a 26-14 record, winning four of their last five contests. They led the LBPRC with 171 runs scored, a .265 team batting average, and a .694 team on-base plus slugging.
On the mound, their pitchers struck out a season-high 321 batters, and tied the Criollos de Caguas for the fewest hits allowed per nine innings at 7.1.
Ponce finished the regular season in second place with a 23-17 record, losing three of their last five contests. They finished fourth with 127 runs scored, sporting a .221 team batting average and .604 team OPS.
Leones’ pitching staff posted an LBPRC-low 2.83 ERA, doing so without recording many strikeouts (7.3 K/9).
How the Cangrejeros Got Here – After losing the first game of the semifinals by one run against the Criollos, the Cangrejeros won four of the last five games of the series to advance.
On Friday, Game 6 remained scoreless after 11 innings, and each club scored a run apiece in the 12th. Second baseman Shed Long Jr. drove in the go-ahead run for Santurce in the top of the 13th, and catcher Brian Navarretto put the finishing touches on a 6-1 victory with a mammoth grand slam that nearly hit the left-field scoreboard at Estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales in Caguas.
Starting pitcher Eduardo Rivera allowed just one earned run on three hits in eight innings in Game 5, striking out nine in the process. The 22-year-old had made just four starts with Santurce this winter, posting a 3.00 ERA across 15 innings.
How the Leones Got Here – Ponce also won their semifinals series in six games, defeating the Gigantes de Carolina four games to two. Facing a 2-1 series deficit, they claimed three consecutive victories to advance to the championship round.
Leading 4-0 in the ninth in Game 6, the Gigantes plated three to put extra pressure on the Leones. It mattered not, as reliever Andrew Marrero managed to record the final three outs without further trouble. Former Major League Baseball outfielder Alex Dickerson hit a pivotal solo homer for Ponce in the fourth.
