Group B of the Premier12 began play early this morning, with the Dominican Republic and Cuba facing off at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei City, Taiwan. The Dominican Republic defeated Cuba 6-1.
Wily Peralta got the start for the Dominicans, throwing an excellent start. Peralta tossed five and a third innings, allowed four hits, one earned run, two walks, and struck out five batters. Cuba sent out Yoennis Yera, who threw six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and punching out five batters.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Alfredo Despaigne scored on a wild pitch for Cuba to grab the first lead of the night.
Dominican Republic responded right back in the top of the seventh, all with two outs. After two walks, Arismendy Alcantara came to pinch hit, where he singled up the middle, and two runners were able to cross the plate after a throwing error from Yoeklis Guibert for the Dominicans to go ahead 2-1.
They would continue to pour on more runs in the eighth and ninth innings after a Rainer Nunez RBI single scored Kelvin Gutierrez. In the ninth inning, Dominicana tacked on three more runs after an RBI from Frank Rodriguez on a fielder’s choice, followed by a two-run triple from Kelvin Gutierrez.
Diego Castillo would lock down the save in the bottom of the ninth, picking up a strikeout and two flyouts for the Dominican Republic to lock down the victory at 6-1. Cuba will face South Korea tomorrow morning at Taipei Tianmu Stadium at 5 AM EST. As for the Dominican Republic, they’ll be hosts to Chinese Taipei at the Taipei Dome, with the first pitch set for 5:30 AM EST.
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