Grand Slam * Stats & News
Updated: January 19, 2016
Scores & Statistics
Baseball Scores & Stats
Softball Women Scores & Stats
Copyright © 1997-2016
Grand Slam/Marco Stoovelaar


www.grand-slam.nl
International Baseball
Headlines
Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2016 by Marco Stoovelaar




(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)

Orientales wins to force seventh game in Nicaraguan Final!
Nederlands

RIVAS (Nicaragua) - Orientales de Granada won 5-2 vs. Gigantes de Rivas on Tuesday-evening (January 19) in Game 6 of the best-of-seven Champonship Final in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional. With the win, Orientales forced a seventh and deciding game, as the Championship Series in Nicaragua is tied again at 3-3.

So far in the suspenseful Championship Series, the fans have seen six attractive games with several nice plays plus good hitting and full of drama and excitement.

At Estadio Yamíl Ríos in Rivas, Orientales took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Gigantes came alongside in the fourth inning. Orientales broke the 2-2 tie by scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Netherlands Team-player Yurendell de Caster was 1-for-4 tonight for the Gigantes. Wuillians Vásquz, who hit four homeruns for Gigantes in the series, was 1-for-5 and struckout three times tonight.

Game Seven will be played on Wednesday-evening at the stadium of the Orientales in Granada.

(January 19)




Orientales opened the score with two runs in the top of the first inning when the defense of Gigantes made some mistakes. José Campusano led off with an infield-hit, as no one was covering first base when first baseman Yurendell de Caster and pitcher Paul Estrada went after the ball. Campusano then advanced on a grounder and a single by Jonel Pacheco. With runners on first and third base, Juan Carlos Torres also reached on an infield-hit, but that was followed by a throwing error to first base. Campusano scored on the hit by Torres, but both Pacheco and Torres advanced an additional base on the error. Momets later, Pacheco scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by Yosvany Guerra. Hereafter, another throwing error followed on a grounder by Renato Morales, but this time, it would not lead to more runs.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Gigantes got a chance of doing something back. The home team got the bases loaded, as the defense of Orientales also committed an error. With two outs, Wuillians Vásquez doubled down the leftfield-line, then Rubén Mateo walked and the bases got loaded when Yurendell de Caster reached on an error. But the Gigantes were held scoreless, as a force play-grounder followed.

Both teams stranded a runner in the second inning, then Orientales was retired in order in the top of the third by righthander Paul Estrada. In the bottom of the third, Gigantes reached base again off of lefthander Rodney Rodríguez. With two outs, Rubén Mateo singled and Yurendell de Caster reached on an infield-hit, but both stranded.

After having left six runners in the first three at bats, Gigantes finally scored in the bottom of the fourth inning and came alongside. With one out, Ramón Flores singled. Hereafter, pitcher Rodríguez made a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Omar Obregón that resulted in runners on second and third base. Both runners went on to score. Flores scored on single by Anderson Feliz and Obregón on a double by Jimmy González. The latter stranded on second base, as the inning ended with a called strikeout for Wuillians Vásquez.

In the top of the fifth, the first four batters of Orientales reached base safely, but the first two were forced out at second base on a grounder by the next batter. A single by Juan Carlos Torres led to runners on first and second base, but Estrada then closed with a strikeout.

Gigantes stranded a runner on third base in its fifth at bat off of new pitcher Gustavo Martínez. Rubén Mateo led off with a single, but then Yurendell de Caster grounder into a double play. Next batter Luis Allen Salazar then was hit by a pitch and moved to third base on two wild pitches, but was left behind.

From the sixth inning on, the pitchers of both teams didn't allow much. Gigantes-starter Paul Estrada retired the side in the sixth. He then gave up a lead-off single in the seventh to Fausto Suárez, who has been the short stop for Orientales since Iván Marín hurt himself while catching a ball some games ago. With Suárez at first base, Estrada retired the next three batters. With one out in the eighth, he was relieved by José Escalona, who then retired the next two batters.

Orientales-reliever Gustavo Martínez also retired the side in the sixth, then struckout three batters in the seventh. In the eighth, Yurendell de Caster led off with a line drive into rightfield, but there, Renato Morales made a great running/diving catch. Hereafter, Luis Allen Salazar singled, but Martínez followed with a strikeout for Dwight Britton. After the runner had advanced on a wild pitch, next batter Ramón Flores was walked intentionally. But Martínez encountered no more problems, as a comeback-grounder ended the at bat. And with that, the score remained tied at 2-2.

The top of the ninth inning was eventful. Off of new pitcher Wilton López, Orientales got the bases loaded and went on to re-take the lead. López got two quick outs, but then gave up singles to Fausto Suárez and José Campusano, putting runners on first and third base. López then got to a 3-1 count on next batter Ofilio Castro. The next pitch was low, but was ruled a strike while Castro took a step towards first base. Shortly hereafter, the 3B Coach of Orientales must have said something, as he was ejected by Home Plate Umpire Jairo Mendoza. On the next pitch, Castro did receive a free pass. That loaded the bases for the visiting team and might have triggered some reactions from a few spectators. With next batter Jonel Pacheco in the batter's box, a special unit of policemen suddenly entered the field and were lining up around the border of the field, probably just out of precaution. The umpires halted the game, as they also lined up around the backstop. By standing there, they could interfere with the game (passed balls, wilde pitches, etc.) and after a meeting with the Managers of both teams, the HP Umpire instructed the policemen to walk on. The policemen moved towards the side of the field, besides the dug-outs, but nothing happened and the spectators just behaved well. When the game resumed, Pacheco delivered a 2-run single (bringing in Suárez and Campusano), which was followed by a throwing error, resulting in a third run (scored by Castro) that gave Orientales a 5-2 lead!

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Darwin Cubillán closed the game for Orientales. He gave up a lead-off single to Anderson Feliz, but followed with two strikeouts. A pop-fly towards short ended the game. And with that, Orientales equaled the best-of-seven Series again and forced a decisive seventh game!

Successful Gigantes-hitter Wuillians Vásquez was silenced tonight. He doubled in his first at bat in the first inning, but then was eliminated in his next four at bats, three of them with a strikeout.

Related Articles:
Gigantes takes lead in Nicaraguan Final with comeback-win. (January 17)
Orientales equals Nicaraguan Final with 13th inning win. (January 16)
Oriental narrow deficit by winning G3 Nicaraguan Final. (January 15)
Gigantes, De Caster also win Game 2 Nicaraguan Final. (January 13)
Gigantes open Nicaraguan Final with win; Former HCAW-player homers. (January 12)
Yurendell de Caster in Nicaraguan Final. (January 11)
Curt Smith moves into first place in Nicaragua with Tigres. (November 29)
Curt Smith homers in first game in Nicaragua. (November 27)




Thank you for visiting this site.
Mail your suggestions and questions to stoov@wxs.nl
Copyright © 1997-2016 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.