First baseman Juan Francisco drove in five runs and third baseman Diego Goris hit two of the four home runs that propelled the Dominican Republic to a 10-for-7 win over Venezuela on Tuesday in Puebla, Mexico, at the start of the last baseball qualifier for the Olympic Games.
The two teams combined to draw 10 balls from the Hermanos Serdán stadium, the home of the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League.
Francisco, Goris and outfielder Johan Mieses hit back-to-back home runs in a final five-race rally from the Dominican Republic in the seventh inning. Venezuela hit six home runs, all without running backs: Alexi Amarista hit two, while Alexander Palma, Danry Vázquez, Luis Sardiñas and Hernán Pérez had one per head.
The five-day tournament, which also includes the Netherlands, will decide the last team invited to the ball tournament at the Tokyo Games, scheduled to kick off next month in the Japanese capital. For the fair that will mark the return of the ball to the Olympics, after 12 years of absence, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Israel and Mexico have already sealed their tickets.
In the original plan of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) the last playoff was scheduled to be held in Taiwan, but as a result of the coronavirus pandemic it had to be moved to Puebla a month earlier. Also because of the pandemic, Australia, China and Taiwan gave up the opportunity to seek a pass to Tokyo 2020.
The game started with a 25-minute delay due to rain, which was constantly present in the last three innings of the game.
The Dominicans scored their first run after two outs in the first inning, when outfielder Julio Rodríguez reached base by mistake by third baseman Pérez and Juan Francisco pushed him from middle with a single off right-hander Erick Leal.
Venezuela responded with an Amarista home run to draw 1-1 in the closing of the first act against starter Raynel Espinal. Goris returned the advantage to the Dominican Republic with his first home run of the night, in the second inning, but Palma followed suit to tie it 2-2 and Amarista again took the ball out of the park to give the South Americans a 3-2 lead in the third.
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Juan Francisco capped the comeback with an unstoppable two-run RBI in the fifth.
Venezuela led 4-2 at the start of the fifth inning, but the West Indians produced three runs, two RBIs on a single with Francisco’s bases loaded. Vázquez drew 5-5 and Sardiñas gave up a 6-5 lead, with Venezuelan home runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Venezuela, which scored a run in each inning in the first seven acts, left two runners stranded on the bases in the eighth against Carlos Ramírez and then against Dominican closer Jairo Asencio in the ninth.
Jhan Mariñez (1-0) was the winning pitcher, Luis Madero (0-1) the defeated and Asencio scored the rescue.
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Amarista’s second home run in the game and another RBI from Palma give him an advantage over the Dominican Republic.
Francisco batted 5-3 with five RBIs, Goris 4-2 with two RBIs, Mieses 5-2 and second baseman Gustavo Núñez 5-3 with two runs scored, for the winners. Amarista hit two home runs and Vazquez a home run and a single for the losers.
On Wednesday, Venezuela will face the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic will rest. In the last game of the preliminary round, on Thursday, the Dominicans and the Dutch will meet. The first place will advance to Saturday’s match for the Olympic ticket, while the other two will meet on Friday in a semi-final.
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