Venezuela and Mexico began the fifth edition of the World Classic with mixed feelings. The dark-haired gave the first clarion call of group D in Miami by defeating the all-powerful Dominicans, while in the C bracket in Arizona, the Aztecs made a mistake against the explosive Colombians. However, after two days of competition, the two squads have given clear signs that they are ready to leave their mark on the biggest baseball show at the national team level.
The Venezuelans, led by their mentor Omar López, have put together a compact team that intends to once and for all erase the pale image of previous editions. For now, his goal of paying off all debts is on track, after achieving two victories in his initial presentations.
First the Dominican Republic, 2013 champions, and then Puerto Rico, subtitles of the last two Clásicos, have been the victims of Venezuela, whose offensive has been very tight and forceful against the two most prominent rivals in their section.
Anthony Santander, Salvador Pérez, David Peralta and José Altuve have been the hottest bats of the ninth morocha, who on Saturday punished Sandy Alcántara, reigning National League Cy Young, and on Sunday returned to the charge against José Berríos, one one of the Puerto Rican pitchers with the most impact in MLB.
Pérez, in particular, was a whip against the Puerto Ricans, to whom he hit four hits in as many at-bats, with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored and five RBIs, something that no other Venezuelan had achieved in a Classics game. world.
The pitchers have also left a good impression. Martín Pérez, Luis García, Pablo López and Jhoulys Chacín have carried the greatest burden of work and their response has been impressive, while Silvino Bracho, José Alvarado, José Quijada and José Ruiz have responded in shorter stretches.
Despite the fact that this good start puts them in a spectacular position to seal the pass to the next round in their next challenges against Israel and Nicaragua, the mentor Omar López is not confident. “Emotions and feelings are there, but we cannot lose focus. We have had several meetings and we have talked about how to demonstrate our identity on the ground,” pointed the prestigious helmsman, who works as a coach for the Houston Astros in MLB.
“We have confidence in everything we have here. We always play hard (…), we never give up”, assured outfielder David Peralta on the team’s mentality, while pitcher Jesús Luzardo spoke of the good vibes in the squad.
“There are quite a few veterans from whom as a youngster you will learn a lot (…) We hope to have a good time, enjoy the game a lot and win”, pointed Luzardo, who should be one of the pieces of the Venezuelan pitching in the next commitments.
Considering their record in the World Classics, many thought that Venezuela could not survive the group of death against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, but right now both quisqueyanos and boricuas have very little room for error in their upcoming challenges. The dark-haired, on the other hand, breathe a sigh of relief at the top of the key with two games to go against the lesser roster in the group.
Mexico, the executioner of champions
Losing to Colombia in the opener of the Clásico at Chase Field in Arizona was a blow to Mexico, but their recovery couldn’t have been better. Just a few hours after the defeat, the Aztec team shook off its ghosts and achieved its third victory in four matches against the United States, the current tournament champion.
The victory (11-5) was supported by a brutal artillery by Joey Meneses, Cuban Randy Arozarena and Rowdy Téllez, who together had nine RBIs, nine hits and seven runs scored. Meneses led the way with a pair of home runs and five RBIs, and became the third Mexican with two home runs in the same World Classics game, after Karim García and Adrián González.
“I’ll tell you honestly, I envisioned winning, but I didn’t think we were, sort of, one hit and three outs away from winning by knockout against a quality opponent from the United States. The truth is that no, I lied to you to say that I had imagined it ”, Aztec manager Benji Gil told ESPN.
These statements put into perspective the magnitude of the Mexican triumph, which now places them in a better position for the final battles of a tremendously complicated group.
“We are totally focused on beating Great Britain and when that game is over, we are 100 per cent focused on Canada. I hope it’s enough to go to Miami. We must make it very clear, our goal is not only to win the United States, that is not what we came here for. We come to compete for a championship”, added Gil.
The Mexicans have the goal of getting on the podium for the first time in an event that has given them more headaches than joy, especially in the 2013 and 2017 editions, in which they failed to overcome the first round.
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