The Sportspedia
It took Mexico 10 innings to qualify for the 2021 Mazatlán Caribbean Series Semifinals, after beating and eliminating Venezuela 4-3.
From the very first turn Mexico had a hit, with Chávez, but Venezuela scored first: Danry Vásquez blew the fence to score the first in the second inning.
In the bottom of the third the catcher Jesús Sucre (VEN) took a strong blow between the legs after a pitch. But he recovered and in the fifth he drove in. Ali Castillo hit another RBI Single.
Mexico was in a situation of elimination by a small difference in batting percentage, lower than that of Venezuela and Panama. At different times that score of 3-0 eliminated Mexico or allowed them to advance, depending on the batting percentage.
Édgar Arredondo was replaced by Aldo Montes in the fifth. He walked. He filled up the house but in the end he got the entrance clean.
It was until the bottom of the eighth -watching the elimination closely- that Mexico scored a run.
Sebastián Elizalde, who also saved the Tomateros de Culiacán from losing in the fifth game of the Mexican Pacific League, hit a double and then Joey Meneses hit another double that managed to tie Mexico in the eighth.
The hosts continued to look stronger. In the ninth they filled the house but failed to score. In the tenth they filled the bases again and now they did score, thanks to a hit by Juan Carlos Gamboa, which gave Mexico the victory 4-3.
The game ended after 2:00 AM on Friday. Today Mexico, third in the preliminary phases, will play against Puerto Rico, while the Dominican Republic will go against Panama.
