2023-10-19 11:33:01
▲ Baseball player Roberto Valenzuela was the one who started the Mexican party by hitting an RBI single in the first inning. The second duel of the tricolors will be on Saturday against Dominicana. Photo @COM_Mexico
From the Editorial
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, October 19, 2023, p. a10
The Mexican delegation yesterday opened the competitive curtain of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games with a relentless 16-0 victory for the baseball team against the hosts.
After failing in their attempt to qualify for the previous edition in Lima 2019, the national team exploited its power at bat and knocked out Chile in just five innings.
We arrived without overconfidence and things went well. We play with respect, because anything can happen in the game. This result is a motivation for our next duel, shared coach Enrique Reyes, who led the team to a historic gold at the Central American Games in El Salvador.
Five pitchers combined to throw a game without hit no career. With rallies of eight runs in the third inning and six in the fourth Mexico welcomed the Chilean players who made their debut in this type of competition.
The game took place on a cold morning at Parque Bicentenario Cerrillos, but the 10 degrees Celsius did not prevent the offensive of the ninth tricolor team from starting hot.
Roberto Valenzuela led the attack in the first inning against Chilean starter Patrick Germann with a single to left field, which opened the doors of the pentagon for Norberto Obeso. Roberto Ramos hit the second run of that inning, after a walk to Benjamín Meza, score 2-0.
On the third roll came the rally definitive of Mexico. There, a two-run double by Miguel Guzmán and an RBI single by Emmanuel Ávila marked the departure of Germann, who left the game with a 5-0 disadvantage.
Bogdan Leyton came on in relief and was unable to dominate any of the three batters he faced: he walked a couple and gave up a run-scoring single by Randy Romero. He was relieved by Milovan Troncoso, who was greeted by Fernando Villegas’ unstoppable RBI; On that play Norberto Obeso scored after an error by shortstop Allan Chu to extend the lead 9-0.
The eighth run of the series came with a single by Ramos that sent Villegas to the register.
Mexico defined the game in the fourth inning. He loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. Alexis Wilson scored after a wild pitch Troncoso and Ramos brought a couple of lines with a double, already against the shipments of Javier Araya. Romero scored another with wild pitch and pinch-hitter Jasson Atondo made it 16-0 with a two-run double.
The Chilean ninth was tied up by the pitches of Wilmer Ríos. The right-hander from Guasave scored the victory after throwing three innings without hit nor career, granted a passport and prescribed three chocolates.
Between Faustino Carrera and Francisco Haro they hung the zero of the fourth inning, while Samuel Zazueta and Jesús Cruz retired the fifth roll to complete the double zero, in a game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule that applies in the Pan American Games .
The national ninth has four bronze medals in the continental competition; the last one was obtained in Guadalajara 2011.
Mexico will return to activity on Saturday, October 21 to face the Dominican Republic at 6:30 a.m. Central Mexico time.
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