(This article was translated, edited and modified from an article that appeared in endi.com)
******************************************************************************
The Puerto Rican offense was absent again in their loss against the Charros of Mexico by a score of 5-0
Santo Domingo.- Puerto Rico was eliminated this Monday from the Caribbean Series after suffering its fourth consecutive loss with another poor offensive display.
The Criollos de Caguas became the first team to fail to advance to the next stage of the tournament, after being shutout 5-0 by Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco at the Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal.
With a record of 0-4, the Puerto Ricans will end their participation tomorrow, Tuesday, by facing Colombia at 10:30 a.m.
The last time a Puerto Rican representation failed to qualify for the semifinals was in 2019 in Panama, when it finished with a 0-4 mark. Back then It was with the Cangrejeros de Santurce.
Here in the Dominican Republic, the Leones de Ponce were winless in six games in 2004.
Mexico, with the win, improved its record to 2-2. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic are already in the semifinals. Colombia with 2-1 and Panama with 1-3 are still alive.
The Criollos’ offensive debacle spilled over into this game. In the first five innings they left seven men on base and just went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
In the fifth inning they left the bases loaded, when the third batter Emmanuel Rivera and the fourth David Vidal were not able to score any of the runners.
Before the game, Puerto Rico had only had two hits in 20 at-bats with runners on third or second base. The frustration engulfed the players in the dugout and the few Puerto Rican fans in the stands. They were unable to produce offensively in the first four games of the tournament, beginning with a painful 3-2 loss to Panama.
Today, from the first inning, the enthusiasm of the Puerto Ricans seemed to fade when their rival scored two runs. For the third game in a row they fell behind first on the board. They already felt the pressure to wake up offensively and never did despite the roster changes.
Los Charros wasted no time attacking right-hander Óscar de la Cruz. José Cardona led off with a single and lefty Jesús Quiroz found a pitch inside the plate and disappeared it over the right field wall to make it 2-0.
The attack of the Aztecs continued in the third inning with another two runs, extending the lead 4-0 and causing the departure of Oscar de la Cruz.
With runners on second and first base, Víctor Mendoza hit a double down the first base line, driving in Cardona. And immediately, Japhet Amador singled to bring Quiroz to the plate with the Charros’ fourth score.
De la Cruz only completed 2 1/3 innings and gave up four hits with four runs to carry the backhand.
For the Charros, starter Nick Stuck was the winning pitcher by completed 5.2 innings and giving up five hits without runs.
