Neptunus faced an early 2-0 deficit, but came alongside in the first inning, then enlarged its lead to 7-2 in the next two at bats.
In the remainder of the game, only one more run was scored, which was done by Neptunus.
In the top of the first inning, Twins took a 2-0 lead off of starter Diegomar Markwell.
He gave up a lead-off single to Jarreau Martina.
The lefthander is know for making several pick-offs towards first base and frequently is successful eliminating the runner.
That also was the case now, as Martina was caught stealing after a pick-off by Markwell.
With two outs, Markwell gave up another basehit, this time to Australian Sam Kennelly, who then scored on a triple by Dennis De Quint.
The Belgian scored himself moments later on a passed ball.
Neptunus came alongside immediately in its first at bat off of Pastor Enrique Martínez Chavez.
The righthander gave up a lead-off single to Stijn van der Meer, then walked Benjamin Dille.
Martínez followed with a strikeout, but then enabled the two runners to advance on a wild pitch.
A grounder by Gianison Boekhoudt and infield-hit by Dudley Leonora then tied the the score.
The Neptunus-defense turned a double play in the top of the second inning, then its offense rallied for four runs with two outs in the home half of the at bat.
With two outs and Gregory Muller (fielder's choice) on first base, Jochem Koedijk was hit by a pitch and both scored on a triple by Stijn van der Meer to put Neptunus ahead, 4-2.
Moments later, Van der Meer scored on an infield-hit by Benjamin Dille.
The latter moved to third base on a single by Dwayne Kemp and scored on a single by Gianison Boekhoudt.
...Benjamin Dille shows his...
...500-game cake...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
In the third inning, Neptunus added an unearned run.
Lead-off hitter Dudley Leonora reached on an error, moved to second, then third base on two grounders and scored on a single by Gregory Muller to make it a 7-2 score.
Diegomar Markwell retired the side in the third and fourth inning, but got a runner on third base in the fifth at bat.
Bob van der Meer led off with a single, but was forced out on a grounder by Christopher Ge.
The latter then moved to second base when this time, a pick-off by Markwell ended in a throwing error, while it appeared that first baseman Dudley Leonora lost the ball in the sun.
Ge advanced to third base on a grounder by Jerzy van Gool, who made his debut in the big league today.
Ge stranded on third base, as Markwell closed with a strikeout.
With a 7-2 lead, Markwell returned to the mound for Neptunus in the top of the sixth inning.
However, Twins Head Coach Kevin Knollenburg then asked the umpires to check whether the pitcher had an illegal substance on his arm.
After checked by the umpiring crew, Markwell was ejected.
Riki Saito took over, but the Japanese pitcher walked lead-off hitter Jarreau Martina, then gave up a single to (former Neptunian) Ruar Verkerk.
An attempted double-steal followed, but Martina was caught stealing at third base.
This led to the ejection of Knollenburg, who argued the call.
The inning then ended when Sam Kennelly lined into a double play to short stop Stijn van der Meer.
In the bottom of the sixth, Twins also went to the bullpen, as Jan Evertse took over from Martínez.
With two outs, he gave up a single to Stijn van der Meer, who was awarded second base on a balk and stole third base, but then was left behind.
Twins also got a runner into scoring position again in the top of the seventh.
Dennis De Quint led off with a single and moved on an one-out single by Bob van der Meer, who is the brother of Neptunus-short stop Stijn van der Meer.
But two flyouts ended the at bat.
In the bottom of the seventh, Neptunus added its eighth run.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a single and scored on a following double by Gianison Boekhoudt.
In the final two at bats, Twins got into scoring position both times again, but was unable to do some scoring.
With two outs in the eighth, Ruar Verkerk doubled, but was left behind.
In the ninth, Dennis De Quint led off with a walk and Bram Grooten singled.
An infield-fly and a double play followed to end the inning and the game.
As Riki Saito pitched the final four innings after taking over with a lead, he was credited with a save.
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Neptunus scores early to win series-opener vs. Twins
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus opened the 3-game series against De Glaskoning Twins with an 8-2 win on a chilly and windy Thursday-evening (May 17).
Benjamin Dille (Neptunus) is honored before the game by Neptunus for playing in his 500th career regular season-game.