Yermín Mercedes drove in two runs and Erick Mejía hit a homerun to lead a twelve-hit attack that bombarded the Tigres del Licey over the Águilas Cibaeñas to take the 5-1 victory, in the second game of a double day that Sunday was held in the stadium. Cibao.
Despite the distribution of the honor, the Cibaeños made their qualification for the semi-final by combining their victory in the first match (3-2) with another Toros del Este over the Leones del Escogido in the capital.
Las Águilas (16-13), who are in second place halfway through the tournament, have already completed their homeowner games and will finish the regular series by playing their 30th game against Licey next Tuesday, at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium.
In order for Licey to take their 11th win of the tournament, with 16 losses, while still keeping their ambitions to advance to the playoffs alive, Mercedes shot a single and double RBI from a few runs as part of the awakening of the attack that reacted efficiently and with excellent pitching that limited the Cibaeños to only four hits.
With three games to celebrate, the Blues are half a game from fifth place occupied by the Leones del Escogido (14-16) – and no games in progress – and a game and a half from fourth, where Gigantes del Cibao and Estrellas Orientales are located. , with a 13-13 character.
The team that finished in fifth place and only two games apart from fourth will be able to play a miniseries for the final ticket to the semi-final.
In the third inning, Mejía hit his first homerun of the tournament to open the score in favor of Licey against eaglet-starter Yoanner Negrín.
Blue’s lead lasted just over one out at the end of the third, when the Eagles tied a round off starter Jean Carlos Mejía on a single to short stop by Juan Lagares to enter Ramón Torres.
Imported catcher Roberto Peña gave out an RBI-single for Blues to profit again in the fourth inning, and with two more rounds in the fifth and one in the seventh, they condemned the game.
Mercedes contributed the third touchdown with a single through leftfield that drove Luis Barrera away, and Pablo Reyes tied the fourth position with a basesloaded walk in the fifth.
Mercedes returned to produce a run in the seventh by firing a double that propelled Jorge Bonifacio to the rubber.
At the end of the seventh, the Licey reliever, Hansel Robles, Aneury Tavárez and Rangel Ravelo hit with balls, emptying the benches of both teams in an effort to fight, during which he momentarily forgot the physical distance that determines the health protocol of the tournament imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Robles completed the game without major setbacks to seal the blue victory.
Mauricio Cabrera won (2-0) in a two-hit scoreless innings, with two strikeouts and two walks.
He lost to righthanded Negrin (3-3) while giving up nine hits and four runs, one walk and one strikeout in four 1/3 innings.