(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
        Curaçao recovers and wins again in Caribbean Series
Nederlands
 MIAMI, Florida (USA) -
After having lost the previous two games, Curaçao Suns recovered and recorded its second victory of the 66th edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) on Monday (February 5).
After having had the day off on Sunday, Curaçao won 6-3 on Day 5 of the annual event against Gigantes de Rivas, the champion of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Nicaragua).
Curaçao had opened the annual event on Thursday with a 6-5 win against Naranjeros de Hermosillo from Mexico.
On Friday, the team lost 7-3 against Federales de Chiriquí from Panamá.
The next day, Curaçao lost 4-2 against Tiburones de La Guaira from Venezuela.
After today's victory, Curaçao shares fourth place with Tigres de Licey, but is placed fourth based on a better Team Quality Balance.
On Tuesday, Curaçao meets the Dominican champion.
On Wednesday, Curaçao closes the preliminary round against Criollos de Caguas, which currently is in second place.
The four best teams will advance to the Semi-Finals.
This year, the annual event is played in Miami, Florida (USA), where all games are played in LoanDepot Park, the home of Miami Marlins.
Seven teams participate in this years tournament, who all are the champions of their respective professional leagues: Criollos de Caguas (Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rico), Curaçao Suns (Curaçao Professional Baseball), Federales de Chiriquí (Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá), Gigantes de Rivas (Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Nicaragua), Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, Mexico), Tiburones de La Guaira (Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional, Venezuela) and Tigres del Licey (Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana, Dominican Republic).
On Monday, Curaçao initially faced a 2-0 deficit halfway the fourth, but then turned the game around in its favor via two 3-run rallies.
...Shairon Martis was the winning pitcher...
...On the photo, he pitches for the Netherlands...
...in the 2022 Baseball Week Haarlem...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the top of the second inning, Nicaragua opened the score with one run off of starter Shairon Martis.
With two outs, the righthander gave up a single to Francisco Peguero, then an RBI-double to Elian Miranda.
Nicaragua doubled its lead in the fourth inning, again with two outs.
Martis gave up a lead-off double to Enmanuel Garcia, who advanced to third on a flyout.
With two outs, Garcia scored on a double by Francisco Peguero.
Curaçao was the first to get a baserunner in the bottom of the first inning after Martis had retired the side.
With one out, Jurickson Profar singled, but with two outs, he was caught stealing.
Curaçao was retired in order in the second and left a runner behind on first base in the third.
Trailing 2-0, Curaçao struck with three runs in the bottom of the fourth off of starter Pedro Torrez.
He walked lead-off hitter Jurickson Profar, then gave up a single to Wladimir Balentien, who currently is the leading hitter of the tournament.
Next batter Didi Gregorius placed a sacrifice bunt.
The Nicaraguan defense opted to force out a preceeding runner, but everyone was safe.
With the bases loaded, Jonathan Schoop lined out.
Hereafter, Profar scored on a force play-grounder by Sharlon Schoop, which led to the elimination of Gregorius at second base.
Curaçao got the bases loaded again when Hendrik Clementina walked.
Juremi Profar followed with a single that enabled Balentien and Schoop to score, which gave Curaçao a 3-2 lead.
A pitching-change followed, but Curaçao had turned the game around.
Curaçao added three more runs in the sixth off of reliever Jesus Linarez.
Didi Gregorius led off with a single and with one out, Sharlon Schoop also singled.
They scored when next batter Hendrik Clementina homered, making it a 6-2 score.
After having given up a run in the second and fourth inning, Shairon Martis encountered no more problems and threw four strong innings.
He retired the side in the fifth, saw Nicaragua leave a runner behind on first base in the sixth, then retired the side again in the seventh and eighth inning.
With Curaçao leading 6-2, Anthony Herrera took over from Martis in the ninth and gave up Nicaragua's third run.
Herrera gave up a lead-off double to Raudy Read, whose pinch-runner Benjamin Alegria moved to third base on a single by Cheslor Cuthbert.
Hereafter, Francisco Peguero grounded into a double play, but that also enabled Alegria to score.
When next batter Elian Miranda singled, a pitching-change followed.
Kevin Kelly took the mound and he got a game-ending grounder.
(February 5)
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