(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
        Curaçao empty-handed in second game Caribbean Series
Nederlands
 MIAMI, Florida (USA) -
Curaçao Suns ended up short in its second game of the 66th edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe).
On Friday (February 2), the team lost 7-3 against Federales de Chiriquí, the champion of the Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá.
Curaçao had opened the annual event on Thursday with a 6-5 win against Naranjeros de Hermosillo from Mexico.
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 Friday, Panama opened the score with an unearned run in the top of the third inning off of starter Juan Carlos Sulbaran.
Lead-off hitter Johnny Yussef Santos reached on an error and moved into scoring position on an one-out single by Joshwan Wright.
With two outs, Santos scored on a 2-out single by Ivan Aaron Herrera.
The Panamanian lead was shortlived, as Curaçao came alongside in the bottom of the fourth.
With one out, Ademar Rifaela walked, moved to third base on a following single by Wladimir Balentien and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sharlon Schoop.
Panama re-took the lead in the fifth.
With one out, Ricardo Cespedes doubled, which led to a pitching-change.
Eric Mendez Matos took over from Juan Carlos Sulbaran, but he enabled Cespedes to move to third base via a wild pitch.
With two outs, Mendez gave up an RBI-single to Allen Córdoba.
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(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Curaçao got an opportunity to do some scoring in its fifth inning, but failed to do so.
Hendrik Clementina led off with a single and Roger Bernadina then walked.
With two runners on base, Fernando Perez was inserted as new pitcher for Panama.
He saw both runners successfully advance on a sacrifice bunt by Jurickson Profar.
Next, the bases got loaded when Didi Gregorius was hit by a pitch.
But the three runners were left behind when next batters Jonathan Schoop and Ademar Rifaela both popped out into foul territory.
Panama then added three runs in the top of the sixth.
With one out, Mendez hit Rubén Tejada with a pitch and was relieved by Wendell Floranus.
He hit next batter Johan Camargo with a pitch and then gave up a runscoring double to Jean Arnaez.
With runners on second and third base, a grounder accounted for the second out.
Another pitching-change followed, as Alexander Rodrigruez took over from Floranus, but he was greeted with a 2-run single by Ricardo Cespedes, which lifted the lead to 5-1.
Curaçao got one run back when Wladimir Balentien led off the bottom of the sixth with a homerun.
The 39-year old veteran also homered in the first game against Mexico.
Hereafter, Curaçao got runners on second and third base.
After Balentien had homered, Sharlon Schoop walked and moved into scoring position after a wild pitch.
With one out, Hendrik Clementina walked, which led to a pitching-change.
New pitcher Ronald Ramirez got runners on second and third base on a grounder by Roger Bernadina.
But a grounder by Jurickson Profar then ended the at bat.
Panama added another run in the seventh inning off of new pitcher Shea Spitzbarth, who gave up a lead-off homerun to Ivan Aaron Herrera.
In the eighth, Panama scored again when lead-off hitter Johnny Yussef Santos was hit by a pitch and scored on an error with two outs.
Trailing 7-2, Curaçao scored its final run in the bottom of the ninth.
With one out, Jurickson Profar singled.
With two outs, Profar moved to second base on fielder's indifference and then scored on a double by Jonathan Schoop.
He stranded on second base, as a following grounder by Ademar Rifaela ended the inning and the game.
(February 2)
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