The beasts awaken –

Baseball purists must have reacted angrily to the poor performance of the pitching last night in Oaxaca.

The Lions could care less about that. They needed to win at least one game to ensure their return home in the first round of the playoffs and they did, winning with a brutal score of 22-14 against the Warriors, a real scrimmage at the “Eduardo Vasconcelos” Stadium.

And that’s the way baseball is played in the Mexican League. Pitching has had a season to cry in most of the teams.

On a typical day at the Oaxacan stadium, the one who really took advantage of the opportunity to continue his great postseason is Josh Fuentes, who hit a home run and produced nine runs. Playoff records have been held since 2005 and Aderlín Rodríguez (Tijuana, 2023) and Carlos Valencia (Diablos, 2008) had nine RBIs in a game. Fuentes is the third.

The Lions scored clusters of eight runs in the second, and seven in the sixth, as well as three in the fourth and fifth, in their second greatest offensive night, along with the one in Querétaro (April 28, 24 runs, 26 hits, with 15 RBIs and four home runs by Art Charles).

Fuentes, Charles, Yadir Drake, Ruben Tejada and Jose Martinez all had one home run, all nine starters had at least one hit, and Norberto Obeso, Fuentes and Luis Juarez had four.

Yoanner Negrín pitched two and a third innings to get the win. The Lions had a 21-4 lead, but when “Asere” Oaxaca came out, he did damage with six runs in the sixth. That, perhaps, is the point of concern for the beasts: the relief pitching continues to be bad.

Fourteen pitchers (seven), 52 batters for the Lions, 45 for the Warriors, with 34 runs, 45 hits and the most impressive in 4:37 hours: 439 pitches. A tough, unworthy night for professional baseball.— Gaspar Silveira

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