Matthew Tallarini, Chief Correspondent, World Baseball Network,
December 12, 2022
NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Six arms, one game, one win, one championship.
Six Puerto Rico pitchers pooled their efforts, helping their team to win the 2022 Caribbean Cup over Cuba, 9-4.
Cuba struck first when as Alexquemer Sanchez would cracked a solo home run to left field for a 1-0 lead.
During the bottom of the fourth inning, Puerto Rico tied the game up at one-apiece when Ruben Castro drove a single to left field, sending Reynaldo Navarro in to score. A few batters later, Pedro Nazario knocked a single to left field, scoring Kevin Luciano and Castro for a 3-1 lead. Puerto Rico kept up the pressure, batting around to put up a seven-run inning in the bottom of the fourth, and adding insurance runs in the seventh and eighth.
Cuban starter Pavel Hernandez was lifted after 3 1/3 innings pitched, with three hits allowed, three earned runs, one walk, and striking out four.
Puerto Rico’s Jose Burgos, the starter, three four innings, allowing four hits, one earned run, one walk, and striking out one. Oscar Cintron entered the game in the fifth and went three quality innings, giving up two hits, no earned runs, and no walks during his appearance.
Josue Montanez closed out the game in the ninth, getting Yasiel Gonzalez to ground into a double play to end the game.
Puerto Rico third baseman Reynaldo Navarro was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Navarro had 10 hits, four of them doubles, in 25 at-bats, driving in five runs.
Both teams have qualified for the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador.