Caribbean Series: Cuba escapes with 5-4 win over Mexico

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Sports Radio Service is the only Bay Area outlet covering the 2018 Caribbean Series

Photo credit: @lajornadaonline

MEXICO: 4 | 11 | 1

CUBA: 5 | 8 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

Zapopan, Jal., February 4

The end of my dispatch about Game 3 of the Caribbean Series contained a glaring error. The next game scheduled was not between Puerto Rico and Mexico, but between Cuba and Mexico. There was also a lot to say about the end of that game.

It was a see-saw of a match between the repeat champions of Cuba’s National Series, the Granma Sorrels (Alazanes de Granma), and the Mexican Pacific League champs, the Culiacan Tomato Growers (Tomateros de Culiacan).

Granma was playing without its star right fielder, Alfredo Despaigne, who left yesterday’s game against the Anzoategui Caribes after he suffered a calf injury running out a double in the first inning. They still managed to put up quite a show, posting a come from behind victory and surviving a ninth inning challenge from the Tomateros.

Culiacan, which was playing as the visiting team, took an early lead when Justin Greene singled to center to start the game. He stole second and scored on Rico Noel’s single to center off Cuba’s left handed starting pitcher Yoannis Yiera.

Mexico and its lefty starter, Hector Daniel Rodriguez, held on to that lead until the bottom of the third inning, when third baseman Raul Gonzalez singled to center, followied by Roel Santos’s bunt single and Yordan Manduley’s sacrifice bunt.

This use of little ball paid off for the Cubans because Yurisbel Gracial tied the score with a sacrifice line drive to Justin Greene in left. Mexico’s manager, Benjamin Gil, yanked Rodriguez and replaced him with Jesus Castillo, the first of the five relievers Gil would use before the night was over. Castillo got out of the inning, but not before Frederich Cepeda’s double had driven in Santos to give the Alanzanes a 2-1 lead.

That advantage was short-lived. The Tomateros drove Yiera from the mound in the top of the fourth with singles by Walter Ibarra and Sebastian Valle. Right handed reliever Alain Sanchez allowed a bunt single to Noel and a single to left by Sebastian Elizalde that scored Valle.

With Noel on third, Joey Meneses grounded to second baseman Carlos Benitez, whose toss to shortstop Manduley to force Elizalde at second. But Meneses beat Manduley’s throw to first, allowing Noel to score a run to put Mexico up by two runs, 4-2.

Gil appealed the out call at second, but it was upheld after a lengthy review. Sanchez got DH Japhet Amador to end the inning with a ground ball to third. Sanchez would go on to pitch into ninth frame without allowing another Culiacan run.

With one out in the Granma half of the seventh, Gonzalez smashed a home run to left center off an offering of Aldo Montes, who had relieved Castillo to start the top of the fifth. A walk to Santos, the next batter, was enough to make Gil to bring in Nick Struck to replace Montes. The one-time Cubs and Dodgers farm hand only stayed around long enough to hit Mandulay with a pitch and walk Gracial. Struck’s replacement, Daniel Moskos, gave up a sac fly to Cepeda, which scored Santos and tied the score at four apiece.

Yoenis Cespedes’s half brother Yoalkis pinch ran for Benitez, who had singled with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Cespedes broke for second with a two and one count on Juan Carlos Torrente, pinch hitting for Morejon. Cepeda’s move pulled Ibarra, now playing shortstop, out of position, allowing a hole for Torrente’s low line drive to go into left centerfield. Cepeda advanced to third on the hit and scored on Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly to right, giving Cuba a one-run lead.

Culiacan came close to sending the game into extra innings. Oakland native Chris Roberson pinch hit for Valle with a screaming double down the left field line to open the top of the ninth. Granma’s manager Carlos Marti replaced Sanchez with Raidel Martinez, who was faced with the task of getting through the top of Mexico’s lineup without allowing the speedy Roberson to score from second base. Martinez succeeded by striking out Greene and getting pinch hitter Jesse Castillo and Elizalde to ground out.

Cuba now is 2-2, while Mexico is 0-2 half way through the elimination round of the Series.

The Dominican Republic goes against Puerto Rico in this afternoon’s game, followed by Venezuela against Mexico. Game times are 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Central Time, noon and and 6:00 pm PT.

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Oshie gets fined for cross check; Vlasic nearly faces arrest for going to play in the PyeongChang Olympics; plus more NHL news

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NBC TV file photo: Marc Edouard Vlasic who skated at the 2014 Winter Olympics for Team Canada says that he and other NHL players shouldn’t be prohibited from going to the PyeongChang Olympics

On the NHL Podcast with Daniel:

1 Caps’ TJ Oshie fined $5,000 for cross-check; NHL suspends Sabres’ Larsson two games for cross-check

2 With NHL players out of the Olympics, Sharks’ Vlasic feels left out, has considered playing in Olympics despite potential arrest and contract termination

3 Eric Staal scores twice, Wild knock off road-weary Golden Knights

4 Report: Josh Leivo asks Maple Leafs to trade him

Catch Daniel with the NHL Podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Categories NHL

NCAA Basketball Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Eustachy on Admin leave; St Mary’s continues to roll; Stanford women get past OSU; plus more

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Colorado State basketball coach Larry Eustachy, left, is restrained by assistant Steve Barnes. Eustachy was placed on administrative leave Saturday and Barnes was named the interim coach. (Photo by Sean Star/Reporter-Herald)

NCAA Basketball Podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 College Basketball’s Bluebloods suffer rash of upsets in one day

2 Colorado State places Head Coach Larry Eustachy on administrative leave

3 Landale leads No. 13 Saint Mary’s to 65-62 win vs. U of San Diego

4 No. 24 Stanford women hold off No. 16 Oregon State

5 South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley fires back at Missouri AD

6 No. 1 UConn too much for No. 7 South Carolina (nothing new here!)

Daniel Dullum is filling in for Michelle Richardson this week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Don’t whine, it’s over at nine: Cal squeezes past Oregon State to end losing streak

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img_10585636_71
Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron/USA Today

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Stay together. Continue to fight. Even for first-year Cal coach Wyking Jones, repeating those rallying cry phrases carried little significance without putting one in the win column.

Finally, after more than a month, Jones’ Bears have that win.

Kingsley Okoroh registered his first career double-double and the Bears used a big, first half run to get past Oregon State, 74-70 at Haas Pavilion on Saturday night.

The Bears had dropped nine in a row, one off the school-record 10 losses established in 1962. But throughout, players and coaches remained positive and hopeful the streak could be broken.

“Our guys stayed together and believed in each other,” Jones said. “We challenged them to run their shooters off the line and we were okay with giving up two-point contested field goals. The threes add up quick so that was the main focus defensively — it was just to not give up open looks from three. We also made a ton of hustle plays.”

The Bears started slow, and trailed by as many as 10 early. But the response was immediate: Cal scored 30 of the game’s next 40 points to establish their own double-digit lead, and then led 36-28 at the half. OSU was held scoreless for more than six minutes during the run, and shot just 38 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Unlike the previous month of Cal basketball, the Bears held it together under the adversity of a deficit on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Beavers unraveled, likely under the road woes they’ve endured in losing 18 straight true road contests.

“It is frustrating, but we’ve got to stay positive,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “Toughness and discipline wins on the road, and we’ve got to continue to establish that.”

Still, Oregon State applied the pressure with an 8-0 run to lead 57-56 with 6:47 remaining. But Cal’s response–Darius McNeill’s 3-pointer–was immediate, and the Bears never again trailed.

The ragged nature of the ballgame–surprisingly free of turnovers, but littered with 51 foul calls–no doubt had both coaches on edge. But Cal (8-16, 2-9) found away to exploit the situation by making 29 of 39 from the stripe, as big as a surprise as the win itself given Cal’s season-long struggles at the foul line.  In the final 3:30 with the game in the balance, the Bears sunk 11 of 14 to seal it.

“Coach yesterday made us shoot free throws for 30 minutes straight,” Okoroh recalled. “We just all sat around and shot free throws in silence, and it paid off today.”

McNeill led Cal with 16 points, Marcus Lee and Okoroh added 14, and Justice Sueing had 11. Sueing has scored in double figures in all 11 conference games, and did so Saturday despite foul trouble that limited him to six minutes in the first half.

“I’m just very happy for our guys,” Jones said. “Throughout all the losses, throughout all the tough breaks, they’ve been able to continue to fight and continue to stay together.”

Steven Thompson Jr. led OSU (11-11, 3-7) with 24 points, and Tres Tinkle added 19.

The Bears continue Pac-12 play on Wednesday at Colorado followed by a visit to Salt Lake City to face Utah.

Kings run out of gas in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and lose to Dallas 106-99

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2-3-18 feature photo
Buddy Hield puts in the final three points for the Kings on Saturday night

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings played a pretty solid game versus the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night for 36-minutes. Unfortunately for the Kings, a regulation NBA game takes 48-minutes to be official.

The Kings began the fourth period with an 85-81 lead and looked like they were ready to battle the Mavericks down the stretch to post a win on their home court. The Mavericks had a different plan.

After shooting above 50-percent for the entire game, the Kings went ice cold in final quarter with the proverbial lid being put on the basket. In the meantime, the Mavericks found a burst of energy and went on a 16-0 run to establish a 10 point lead. Sacramento did not score their first points in the quarter until the 6:08 mark when De’Aaron Fox hit a 14-foot jump shot.

The home team cut the Mavericks lead down to six points with 2:45 to play but by then, the Kings were “gassed”. Fatigue – both mental and physical – had taken over and the chance to win the second game of a home back-to-back set was ended.

Dallas – who came into the game losers of five consecutive games – won the game 106-99. This was just the seventh road win of the year for the Mavericks.

The Kings have now lost two games in a row at home since going 3-3 on their 13-day, six-game road trip. Sacramento has two games remaining in this four-game home stand.

Top performers

Mavericks

2-3-18 Dirk
Dirk shoots the 3-ball in the fourth quarter versus the Kings
  • Mavs starting five: all of the Dallas starters scored in double-figures on Saturday night. Harrison Barnes scored a game-high 18 points while Dwight Powell posted 17, Dirk 15, Dennis Smith Jr. 12 and Wesley Matthews 11. Yogi Ferrell also added 11 points coming off the bench.
  • Smith Jr. scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. He shot very poorly overall but he just kept working even when things were not going his way. Smith Jr. shot 4-for-15 overall and 0-for-6 from 3-point range. He converted 4-of-7 free throw opportunities. The rookie also added five rebounds, five assists and two steals to his stat line for the contest.
  • Barnes hit 7 of 14 field goal attempts going 4-for-8 from 3-point land. He scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half and was responsible for keeping the Mavs in the game when the Kings were playing with energy.
  • Mr. Nowitzki’s stats must also be mentioned out of pure respect for his 19 years in “the Association”. Dirk shot 5-for-9 overall and hit 3 of 7 from behind the 3-point line. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

Kings

2-3-18 Fox to hoop
@swipathefox takes it to the bucket in the fourth period for SAC
  • De’Aaron Fox had two completely different halves in this game. He finished with 15 points to match Garrett Temple for the team-high scorer. Fox scored just four points shooting 2-for-2 in the first half. He seemed to bothered by Smith Jr. and maybe he was battling his fatigue early. In the second half, Fox posted 11 points shooting 5-for-11 from the field (0-for-3 for 3’s) while hitting 1 of 2 from the charity stripe. Fox also dished out three assists and made three steals in second half.
  • Garrett Temple played a strong 31-minutes off the bench scoring 15 points hitting 6 of 10 shots from the floor. He also went 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Temple added two assists and two steals.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein played 31-minutes which was a little surprising after seeing almost 35-minutes of time on the floor against the Warriors on Friday night and just coming back from injury. He scored 14 points shooting 7-for-12 from the floor. WCS also grabbed eight rebounds, had two steals and blocked one shot.

Key Stats

Dallas (17-36)

  • The Mavericks went after the Kings reputation for not being able to defend against the 3-point shot. They attempted 41 shots from long-range and made 13 of them (31.7-percent). The Mavs 3-point shooting helped them win the game.
  • Dallas out-rebounded the Kings 37-31. They grabbed 10 offensive boards to SAC’s seven.
  • The Mavs outscored the Kings in second-chance points 19-11 for the game. Offensive rebounds do make a difference.
  • Dallas also went to the free throw line 14 times compared to just six times for Sacramento. They converted 11 of those 14 opportunities.
  • The Mavericks also outscored the Kings in the paint 48-44.

Sacramento (16-36)

  • The Kings shot 43-for-82 (52.4-percent) for the game. Their biggest problem was they shot just 22.7-percent (5-for-22) in the fourth quarter which allowed Dallas to go on their 16-0 run.
  • The Kings only went to the free throw line six times. They were successful on five of their six opportunities but six free throw attempts is not going to get it done in the NBA. Sacramento needs to be going to the line at least 20 times per game.
  • The Kings did make 12 steals in the game to the Mavericks eight. SAC also blocked three shots to zero blocked shots for the Mavs.

Up next

Sacramento

The Kings are off until Monday when they will host the Chicago Bulls. Head coach Dave Joerger said the team will have Super Bowl Sunday off and will go back to work on Monday.

Dallas

The Mavs will also play on Monday night when they will face the “Blake Griffin-less” Clippers in LA.

 

Cardinal rout Ducks 96-61, avenge last year’s heartbreaker

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Joey Friedman
Sports Radio Service
February 3, 2018

PALO ALTO — The grass was green for the Stanford Cardinal on the Oregon Trail as they handed the Oregon Ducks its worst loss of the Dana Altman era. The Cardinal (13-11, 7-4 Pac-12) cruised to a 96-61 win over the Ducks at Maples Pavilion. Oregon competed with Stanford for the first four minutes and actually, at one point, had an 11-10 lead. Once Stanford took back the lead (13-11) on a Dorian Pickens’ 3-pointer, they never looked back and led for the rest of the game.

After a great 5-1 start to conference play (including a win over #16 Arizona State), the Cardinal had slowed down. After three straight losses to #14 Arizona, UCLA, and USC, the Cardinal turned it around in a dominant win over Oregon State at Maples last Thursday night to avoid evening their conference record. Similarly, Oregon has suffered close losses to Arizona and USC and they also won against the Top 25 Arizona State Sun Devils. They entered today’s game fresh off of a three-game win streak, beating UCLA, Oregon State, and Cal en route to a conference record that was a half a game behind Stanford.

A quick-paced game until the closing minutes, Stanford and Oregon were matching each other on the scoreboard for the opening minutes. Then, Stanford’s shooting ignited. At a certain point in the first half, the Cardinal was shooting 75% from the field (15-20). They finished the half shooting 68% (19-28). Aided both by their shooting and by Oregon’s sluggish offense, which had numerous scoring droughts each lasting a couple of minutes, Stanford led at the half 50-34. Pickens contributed 14 points in the first half.

For only one minute in the middle of the first half, it did seem as though Oregon had momentum shifting their way. For the first couple of defensive possessions during which they pressed, the Ducks caught the Cardinal off guard, causing three Cardinal turnovers within a single minute. Oregon went on a short 8-0 run in that span and shrunk Stanford’s lead to six. The Cardinal recovered, however, and stretched the lead back to 16 by the end of the half.

The second half saw Stanford only grow its lead once to 35 (with 9:49 left in the game and the score in favor of Stanford 78-43) and a second time to 37 (with 3:09 left and the score 92-55). The Cardinal finished shooting 63% from the field as they also made six threes in each half, totaling 20 attempts (60% from beyond the arc). The best free throw shooting team in the conference was overmatched both at the line by the Cardinal and on the boards–by large margins.

For Stanford, Dorian Pickens scored a total of 25 points tonight (three points shy of career high) as he shot 9-11 from the field, 5-6 from beyond the arc, and collected four rebounds.

A career night for Pickens became very special early on when he scored his 1000th career point at Stanford in the early going. Sitting at 999 entering the game, he joined Reid Travis, who accomplished the feat earlier this season, in the exclusive club, becoming the 46th Stanford men’s basketball player to do it.

Kezie Okpala collected 20 points, going 9-12 from the field, 2-4 from three, five rebounds, and four assists.

Not to be outdone was Travis, though, who added 17 points and seven boards in 28 minutes.

Oregon’s Troy Brown Jr. had 15 points and six rebounds, Elijah Brown had 10 points and did not attempt a free throw even though he has made 52/54 this year, Paul White had 10 points and a rebound, and Victor Bailey Jr. had 13 points, nailing two out of his three triples.

What’s Next?
ORE: Oregon will host the Washington schools, face the LA schools on the road, and then play host to the Arizona schools to close out the month.

STAN: Stanford will embark on a three-game road trip, visiting Utah, Colorado, and Cal. They will then host the Washington schools to close out the month.

Warriors run out of gas in fourth quarter fall to Denver Nuggets 115-108

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Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, playing the back end of a back-to-back series in the Mile High City, lost to the Denver Nuggets 115-108. The Warriors finished the game against the Kings in Sacramento and then boarded a plane and flew to Denver for the game. They probably arrived at the hotel at 4 am and didn’t get much sleep before game time. While it is not an excuse, the record shows that the Warriors own a 5-24 record when having to play in Denver after playing a game in the Pacific time zone.

The Nuggets, under Mike Malone, are an up-and-coming young team and the Warriors will probably face them in the playoffs. The teams split the season series 2-2. The Nuggets have three stars under the age of 22, and they are just now becoming a formidable force in the NBA.

Both teams played a very spirited first half. The Warriors won the first quarter 32-29, but the Nuggets came back, and they trailed the Warriors by one at the half, 56-55. Klay Thompson was hot in the first quarter. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry led the attack in the second. Thompson finished the half with 14, Curry had 12, and Durant pitched in with 13. The Nuggets were led by Will Barton 15 and Gary Harris 12. Barton’s eyes light up when he plays the Warriors and tonight was no exception. The Nuggets take a lot of three-point shots. They were 7-for-16 in the half while the Warriors made just 4 three-pointers in 18 attempts.

The Warriors played well in the third quarter. They led 77-65 about halfway through the third quarter. The Nuggets did not cave, and they were able to reduce the deficit to just six at the end of three quarters of play. The Warriors could not increase the lead in the fourth quarter. Barton made a couple of three-pointers for Denver to give Denver the lead 102-99. The Dubs tied the game at 104, but the Nuggets’ big center, Nikola Jokic, made a three to give Denver the lead for good 107-104. The Warriors fell behind 113-105, and they were toast.  Denver prevailed 115-108.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors drop to 41-12, but still own the best record in the Western Conference. If they should finish with the same record as Houston, the Rockets have the tie-breaker and would have home court advantage over Golden State.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 31 points. Steph had 24. Klay scored just two points in the second half and finished with 16. Will Barton led the Nuggets with 25. Jokic tallied 19, Harris had 16, and Jamal Murray knocked down 15.

The Nuggets are now 28-25 for the years, and they could present problems to the Warriors should they meet in the playoffs.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 6th at 7:30 pm PT.

Heat rebound in second game of home-and-home series with 4-2 win over the Barracuda

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Stockton Heat (21-16-2-3) enacted revenge against the San Jose Barracuda (21-18-1-2) after suffering a defeat in their own building 24 hours earlier, thanks to a rookie goaltender, earning his first professional victory in a 4-2 victory on Friday evening at the SAP Center. 

Stockton’s Tyler Parsons (1-1-0) making only his second start of the season, played on top of his head on Friday night stymieing a Barracuda attack that put 34 shots on goal. His outstanding play in the net frustrated San Jose throughout the night.

Both teams traded chances in the first period, but neither team could get the puck in the back of the net, thanks to great goaltending by both San Jose’s Troy Groesnick (5-8-2) and Parsons. Parsons stopped four scoring chances early in the period by the Barracuda while Grosenick stoned a one-on-one opportunity by Oleg Yuvenko five minutes into the game. The best scoring chance for the Barracuda came with a minute left when defenseman Jacob Middleton sent a shot off the boards that floated out in front of the crease past Parsons but no one in a teal jersey was able to get their stick in to tap home the puck into an empty net.

“I thought we had opportunities, their goalie was good,” head coach Roy Sommer said about Parsons’ play.

Austin Carrol broke the deadlock just a 1:07 into the second period when he skated in from the right point, made a maneuver around defenseman Paul Martin to skate in all alone on Grosenick and was able to put a nice backhander into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. It was Carrol’s third goal of the season. Morgan Klimchuk and Rasmus Andersson received assists on the goal.

Julius Bergman tied the game up on the power play when he received a feed from Calvan Fitzgerald and was able to skate in from the right point and rifle a shot past Parsons who was screened out in front by Barracuda forward Alex True. Bergman’s sixth goal on the season came at the 7:31 mark. Adam Helewka received the secondary assist.

“We’re just trying to get pucks to the net,” said defenseman Calvan Fitzgerald on the blue liners contributing more on offense. “We’re just trying to create more offense as much as we can.”

Before the fans could sit down after Bergman’s goal, Stockton regained the lead when a bad turnover by Barracuda forward Emerson Clark led to Stockton’s Rod Pelley finding a wide open Emile Poirier at the blue line and he was able to skate in on a breakaway and sneak the puck past Groesenick for his fourth goal of the season just 66 seconds later.

The Cuda almost tied it up with under 30 seconds left in the period when Helewka skated in on Parson after taking a nice feed from Rudolfs Balcers on a 2-on-1 chance. Helewka’s backhand attempt was stopped by Parsons and the rebound was cleared away by the Stockton defense. San Jose out shot Stockton 13-11 in the 2nd period.

Grosenick kept the Barracuda in the game to start the third period as he was able to stop a Spencer Foo shorthanded breakaway attempt and a few minutes later a 3-on-1 where he was able to rob back to back point blank chances by the Heat.

“It’s not really fair to him, he’s been playing great.” said captain John McCarthy on the hard luck season for Grosenick. “It would’ve been great to get him a win tonight. He kept us in it till the end. It’s unfortunate, but we do recognize that he’s been playing very well (for us).”

Stockton extended their lead at the 15:56 mark when Carrol skated in from the right boards and sent a shot toward the net that was initially saved by Grosenick. but the rebound trickled out to a crashing Morgan Klimchauk who tapped home his 13th goal of the season for a 3-1 lead. Carrol slammed awkwardly into the boards as a result of the play, got hurt, but was able to walk off the ice back into the locker room under his own power.

Marek Hrivik completed the scoring for Stockton with under two minutes left when the Barracuda pulled Grosenick for an extra attacker and he was able to knock home his 11th goal of the season short handed into an empty net.

San Jose’s McCarthy was able to tip home a Fitzgerald shot from the point on the power play with 43 seconds left for his sixth goal of the season. However, it was too little too late for the Barracuda’s comeback attempt.

Parsons made 32 saves on 34 shots for the victory, while Grosenick made 30 saves on 33 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 2/4 on the power play while Stockton 0/1.

Even there were many scrums after the whistle, there were no official fights between the teams tonight unlike the game in Stockton that featured four of them.

With the win, Stockton leap frogs over San Jose to sixth place in the Pacific Division with 47 points. The Cuda are currently in seventh with 45 points.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda will face the Pacific Division leading Tuscon Roadrunners on Monday evening at SAP Center at 7 pm PT.

Venezuela blows out Dominican Republic 15-4 on second day of Caribbean Series

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Sports Radio Service is the only Bay Area outlet covering the 2018 Caribbean Series

Photo credit: @ZagaDeporte

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: 4 | 8 | 2

VENEZUELA: 15 | 20 | 1

By Lewis Rubman

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico
February 3, 2018

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico–The second day of the Caribbean Series opened with a blast as Venezuela’s Caribes de Anzoategui overwhelmed the Dominican Republic’s Aguilas Cibaenas 15-4 this afternoon in game three of the 13-game tournament that features the champions of the five major winter leagues in the Western Hemisphere, the Cuban National Series, the Dominican League, the Mexican Pacific League, the Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente Porfessional Baseball League, and the Venezuelan League of Professional Baseball.

The Dominican Reppublic’s defeat would have been even more devasting if the victors had observed baseball’s unwritten rules and tried to score at every easy opportunity.

Venezuela’s Balbino Fuenmayor launched two blasts of about 420 feet each. The first, in the bottom of the second inning, landed just to the right of the centerfield score board. The second, which came one inning later, was a mirror image of its predessor, landing just slightly to the left of the score board. Fuenmayor must have run out of steam, because all he could achieve in his next plate appearance was a deep fly to right center that bounced into the bleachers on one hop for what is erroneously called a ground rule double but really is a rule book double. In the sixth, the Caribes’ first baseball hit a grounder to short, where Abiiatal Avelino was stationed so deep that the slugger had no difficulty beating it out of a single. He rounded out his five for five day with a fly ball single to center.

Fuenmayor wasn’t the only hitter who validated Charros Stadium’s Reputation as a batters’ paradise. In the home half of the sixth, his teammates Rafael Ortega and Rene Reyes parked one of Rafael de Paula’s pitches in the center and right field bleachers, respectively. It was in that inning that Fuenmayor varied his act with an infield single.

The Aguilas (Eagles) got their runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The first and seventh innings were the only ones in which the Caribes (the name of the nation that inhabited the area before the colonization of the Caribbean basin) didn’t score. The put up crooked numbers in the third, fifth, sixth, and eighth frames. It goes without saying that they didn’t bat in the ninth.

Major League veteran Freddy Garcia started for Venezuela but didn’t last long enough to get credit for the victory, having been pulled after pitching four and two-thirds innings.

He was followed on the mound by Cesar Jiimenez, who got the win, Carlos Navas, who pitched last year for the A’s farm teams in Stockton and Midland, Mayckol Guaipe, and Ricardo Gomez for the Caribes. The Aguilas’ left handed starter Raul Valdes got the loss. Ulises Joaquin, Cesilio Pimentel, Rafael de Paula, Angel Castro, and Esmerling de la Rosa comosed the parade that followed him. Of that list, Pimentel was the only one to turn in a respectable performace, facing two batters without allowing a hit and forcing one one of them to hit into a double play.

Besides Fuenmayor, five members of Venezuela’s line up had a mutliple hit afternoon, Rafael Ortega, Rene Reyes, Williams Astudillo, Alexi Amarista, and Cesar Valera. Christian Bethancourt account for three of his team’s hits. Hector Gomez hit a two run homer ln the fifth off Garcia for the Dominican. The Eagles’ third baseman made a spiffy play on Luis Sardinas’ liner in the bottom of the third, and second baseman Alexi Amarista made a sparkling play on pinch hitter Luis Valenzuela’s grounder to second in top of the ninth.

Sanchez got the well deserved win. Casey Coleman, who had pitched the bottom of the eighth for Mexico, got the loss. He is now 0-2. Martinez was credited with the save.

Host team Mexico will be the visiting squad for the purposes of tonight’s game against Puerto Rico. Game time is 8:00 pm (6:00 Pacific).