1/17/23
VENEZUELA
Cardenales de Lara continues to fight for the finals
The Lara club has no margin for error and must win their remaining games
By Jesus David Castellano
January 17, 2023
With the victory last Monday over Tiburones de La Guaira by a score of 8-6 at the Estadio Universitario in Caracas, Cardenales de Lara took a breath of oxygen and is still alive in this Round Robin; no margin for error, but at the end of the day alive and with remote chances of reaching the finals.
The options for the team is to win the four remaining games to aspire to finish the semifinal round playing for .500, but they also have to hope that Tiburones or Leones lose those four remaining games, and that Magallanes and Tigres do not reach eight wins; that is the ideal scenario for the "red birds".
Of all their participation in postseason instances, this has been the most complicated for Lara which has not had the torrid hitting of past seasons, and where they have even had mishaps and had to deal with casualties such as Jermaine Palacios.
For their part, despite the fact that pitching has not worked at all, their collective ERA (4.25), although their intermediate relief has generated many headaches and defeats that the coaching staff and management did not count on.
Now, after Tuesday's rest day, the Cardenales face the Leones in Barquisimeto. There they won one of their two games in the particular series against the llions in this tournamentl, which for now favors those led by Carlos Mendoza 2-1.
But first, the Lara contingent will sit down to see how the standings change for Wednesday's games, where one between the Lions and the Sharks will have eight wins and will be almost out of the reach of the Cardenales, who must continue betting on the parity that has reigned in this Round Robin.
Tiburones 7-5, Leones 7-5, Navegantes 6-6, Tigres 6-6, Cardenales 4-8.
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Magallanes came back and got back into the fight
The Turks managed to win their third consecutive victory and were one game away from first place
By yelimar requena
January 16, 2023
The defending champion is alive. Navegantes del Magallanes came from behind and beat Tigres de Aragua 5-3 on Monday to even their record at 6-6 and get fully into the fight for a ticket to the final.
In a fiery José Pérez Colmenarez from Maracay, the Navigantes managed to string together their third consecutive victory to tie the Bengalis' record and stay just one game behind the leaders Leones and Tiburones (7-5).
Tigres cracked opener Erick Leal early and went ahead with a couple of runs, between the second and third innings, due to doubles by Denis Phipps and Alexi Amarista. Later, they scored one more at the end of the fifth with a home run by Carlos Tocci.
But they could not do anything more against the Magallanes relief corps.
Magallanes, started their comeback on a solo home run by Robinson Chirinos in the top of the fifth making it a 2-1 ballgame. The Tigers scored one in the bottom half of the inning. Magallanes turned the score around scoring three in the sixth now a 4-3 score in favor of the Navegantes. The always opportune Alberth Martínez and Edwin García combined to put the score at 4-3.
Already in the ninth, David Rodríguez put the icing on the cake with a single in the center to expand the lead with an insurance run.
Robert Zárate (1.0), Ángel Acevedo (0.2), Alexandro Tovalin (1.0), Anthony Vizcaya (0.1), José Martinez (1.0) and Wilking Rodriguez (1.0) combined to shut out the Tigers in the last five innings, in which they only allowed two hits.
Alberth Martínez, who has had a discreet Round Robin, was the best hitter for the buccaneers, finishing 3-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Finally, the victory went to Robert Zarate (1-0), the save for Wilking Rodriguez (2) and the setback for Yender Cártamo, who allowed three runs in three innings of relief.
Tiburones 7-5, Leones 7-5, Navegantes 6-6, Tigres 6-6, Cardenales 4-8.
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