COLUMBIAN FINALS
Caimanes was one win away from retaining the title
Jan 20, 2022
With another great comeback, Caimanes defeated the Cowboys 6-5 and was one victory away from defending the title of the Colombian Professional Baseball League.
The team from Barranquilla, with two runs in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth, turned the scoreboard around and put the series 3-1 in their favor.
The Cowboys, for the second consecutive day, squandered a four-run lead against Caimanes, achieved from the great pitching work carried out by starter Francisco Jiménez for six innings.
Andrés Angulo also stood out for the Montería team, who had three hits in four at-bats, including a two-run homer in the fifth that put the game at 4-0.
Before Angulo, also in the fifth, Brayan Buelvas hit a solo home run to the opposite field. Both home runs were connected off of starter Porfilio López.
Dilson Herrera gave life to the Caimanes in the fifth by opening with a double and then scoring after a single by Sandy León down the first base line and had an altercation with pitcher Jiménez, which caused the dugouts and bullpens of both teams to empty.
The Caimanes took advantage of Jiménez's exit, in the seventh, to close the gap. His reliever, Edubray Ramos, walked Dilson Herrera and Robinson Cabrera and then Mauricio Ramos singled to drive in Dilson.
That was it for Edubray Ramos, who made way for Hugo Beltrán, who walked Sandy León to load the bases. Roberto Caro hit a single that drove in Cabrera, but León was caught between second and third and Tsung Che Cheng struck out to end Cowboys' anguish.
In the eighth, with Jeffry Niño in the box for Cowboys, Caimanes consummated the comeback. Carlos Arroyo and Harold Ramírez received walks and pinch-hitter Manuel Joseph bunted the ball, Niño picked it up and forced Arroyo at third.
Closer Víctor Capellán entered for Jeffry Niño and Dilson Herrera hit a double that produced the tie on Ramírez's legs. Robinson Cabrera was intentionally walked and Brallan Pérez grounded out to shortstop where Dayan Frias made a blunder when the ball spun out of his control as he was about to throw to second to start a double play.
Joseph scored on the play to put Caimanes up 5-4. The sixth inning produced a run on a sacrifice fly by Sandy León that batted in Dilson for a 6-4 lead.
In the ninth, The Cowboys added drama to the game after the Caimanes closer David Méndez walked Jordan Díaz. Luis Castro entered to run and advanced to second on wild pitch and third on passed ball. In the middle of it, Méndez struck out Elier Hernández and retired Osmy Gregorio short to first when the unexpected happened.
Dayan Frías hit a fly ball to center field that Roberto Caro dropped and allowed Castro to score 6-5. With the tying run at second in Frías, Brayan Buelvas grounded out to first to leave the Caimanes one win away from achieving their twelfth title in Colombian professional baseball.
The victory went to left-hander Ronald Ramírez, the loss to Jeffry Niño, while David Méndez saved his third game in the final.
The fifth game of the Playoff will be played this Thursday starting at 7:30 pm at the Édgar Rentería stadium.