Mazatlán responded in the third inning, when Fabricio Macías opened the round with a double and after Ramiro Peña was out, Alonso Gaitán responded with an RBI single. In the play, Gaitán reached the second mat in a play that was reviewed and which led to Matt McDermott’s expulsion from the match.
The party continued for the Buenos Aires team and although Phillip Ervin was put out of action, Luis Avilés Jr. put the Buenos Aires advantage with another single.
One inning later, Walter Ibarra hit his first home run of the season by sending the ball across center field.
However, the advantage faded when Luis Juárez appeared in the bottom of the fifth to hit a bases-loaded home run off starter Luis Escobar to now put the score in favor of the hosts. Asael Sánchez also went to the streets in the same episode, but already against reliever Víctor Morales.
The seventh seemed to bring good things for Venados when they scored twice, the first with a ground ball by Niko Vásquez and the rest with a long single by pinch-hitter Carlos Muñoz. But Mayos again did damage in the closing with a grounder for a double play by Luis Juárez.
In the end, despite some attempts by both teams to score more runs, the score no longer moved, with Érick Preciado (1-0) being the winning pitcher in relief, while Luis Escobar (2-3) was the defeated . Charlie Hasty (9) earned the save.
Javier Solano (3-3) will be in charge of opening this Thursday for Venados starting at 7:30 p.m. at the close of the first round, while Octavio Acosta (1-3) will start for the tribe.
