Article first appeared in Puerto Rico’s daily, ENDI.com. It was edited and translated to English for our loyal readers.
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The Braves starters did not let up against the Puerto Ricans by hitting 15 hits to win 9-0
North Porth, Florida.- Puerto Rico finished its preparation for the World Baseball Classic on Thursday with a 9-0 defeat against the Atlanta Braves in the second and last warm-up before leaving for Miami, site of Group D of the tournament.
The Puerto Ricans came from being beaten 9-3 by the Boston Red Sox led by Puerto Rican manager Alex Cora at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers before arriving yesterday at the Braves’ CoolToday at the North Pole.
Atlanta, which lost with its “B team” on Thursday 9-0 against the Dominican Republic, presented its best players in the friendly against “Team Rubio”.
Dereck Rodríguez, a candidate to start for the game against the Dominicans on Wednesday, had the ball to start against the Braves, who showed no mercy against the right-hander.
Yacksel Ríos ended the streak by pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Alexis Diaz pitched the eighth inning and also shutout Atlanta.
Atlanta had a whopping 15 hits, paired by Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II.
Max Fried, the Braves’ main starter, allowed just two hits in four innings with five strikeouts.
M.J. Meléndez, Javier Báez, Vimael Machín and Eddie Rosario, who belongs to the Braves, had hits in the friendly.
After the match, Puerto Rico went directly to Miami. On Friday, they will have a morning practice before their debut in the Classic on Saturday against Nicaragua at 1:00 p.m., island time.
