February 5, 2020
By Lewis Rubman
Venezuela 2 5 4
Panama 0 9 1
HATO REY, PUERTO RICO–Going into the final day of its classifying round, here are the standings of the sixty-second Caribbean Series:
Team W-L Pct. GB
Mexico (Tomateros de Culiacán) 3-1 .750 –
Dominican Rep. (Toros del Este) 3-1 .750 –
Venezuela (Cardenales de Lara) 3-1 .750 –
Puerto Rico (Cangrejeros de Santurce) 2-2 .500 1
Panama (Astronautas de Chiquirí 1-3 .250 2
Colombia (Vaqueros de Montería) 0-4 .000 3
By winning this morning’s game against Panama, assured itself of at least a tie with either Mexico or the Dominican Republic for the best won and lost record. Who will earn the number one seed will depend on how the Venezuelans fared against the team or teams, if any, who equal their winning percentage.
How that is determined is fairly complicated, and I promise to explain it if Mexico defeats Colombia this afternoon, which is a probable outcome of their meeting. The same goes in the case of the quite possible, but not nearly as likely, case of the Dominicans beating Puerto Rico in tonight’s sold out contest between the representatives of those neighboring islands.
The Cardenales grabbed an early lead this morning and never relinquished it.
Alí Castillo lined Manaurys Correa’s first pitch into right field for a triple. Gorky Hernández also swung on Correa’s first offering and dropped a run producing single into short center field, and that was all the Redbirds needed. Just to be sure, they tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on Alí Castillo’s single to right that brought Angel Reyes in from second.
As the score indicates, pitching was the story. Right hander David Martínez went six innings, scattering eight hits along the way, to earn the win. Jesús Enrique Sánchez pitched the seventh and eighth without allowing a hit or a walk, and Pedro Rodríguez allowed a hit before closing out the game and receiving credit for the save.
Panama’s pitching also was excellent. Correa was the hard luck loser, in spite of four-hit, one-run hurling. Of the four Astronauta relievers, Abdiel Velásquez, Anfernee Jesús Benítez, Jean Carlos Corpas, Tyler Wilson, and Carlos de Jesús Díaz, only Wilson was less than totally effective, having allowed one run, one hit, and three walks in his two thirds of an inning of work.