Day two of the Caribbean Series saw 15 runs, 4 errors, 4 home runs, a complete game, disappointment for fans of Kevin “the big woofer” Barker and hosts Venezuela finally get into the swing of things. Just another exciting day of baseball on Margarita Island, Porlamar.
Brief Recap of Day Two
I’ve noticed that Venezuelan fans aren’t really that bothered about watching the early game, being as it is that Venezuela always play in the night game. The stadium looked to be mostly empty as the two teams took to the field in game one, save for small groups of fans that included some Mexicans wielding four-foot rattles and one gentleman who had died his beard the colour of the Mexican flag. Fantastic to the extreme.
Those who stayed away missed undoubtedly the best pitched game of the series so far. Nelson Figueroa of the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido exerted more of less complete control over the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of Mexico hitters, finishing with a complete game 3 hitter, for one earned run and 8 strikeouts and no walks. The only blight on his copy book came in the 8th inning when he gave up a solo home run to Mexican second baseman Carlos Valencia. As in the first game yesterday the hitter’s keenness to swing didn’t harm Figueroa’s pitching line much but this was a sublime pitching display from Figgy, who could well see time in the New York Mets pitching rotation next year.
The night game between Leones del Caracas of Venezuela and Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico produced a much more raw and erratic brand of baseball altogether. Neither starting pitcher demonstrated the dominance of Nelson Figueroa, although Jason Simontacchi of Venezuela looked comfortable early on, racked up 5 strikeouts before getting into trouble in the 5th inning and leaving the game. Unfortunately, for Venezuelan shortstop Gregorio Petit it was another error strewn game as he committed two throwing errors to take his series total up to four. That’s an average of two a game! Whether Petit continues his tenure at short in Venezuela’s game against the Dominican Republic tonight remains to be seen.
The game wound up in a 5-2 Venezuela win to get the hosts off to their first victory of the series. Puerto Rico did threaten in the game and loaded the bases twice, although they failed to score on both occasions. In one spectacular play Venezuela turned a 9-6-2 double play to quash Puerto Rico hopes in bizarre fashion.
What Happened to the Big Woofer?
Alright, recap over, I imagine you’re all wondering how yesterday’s player of the day Kevin Barker got on for the Dominican Republic. Brace yourselves Barker fans, the Big Woofer didn’t see a single pitch yesterday. The sultan of swing was replaced at first base yesterday by Brayan Pena, who went 1-4 for a strikeout. At first I was disappointed not to see Barkers haphazard swing at everything approach for a second day, but I soon realised that his manager Ken Oberkfell must surely be resting the Big Woofer for the Dominican’s game against Venezuela tomorrow night. It had been a big day for Barker, a game winning home run and being named the inaugural NTIG CWS player of the day all in the space of a few hours. A sensible move by Oberkfell to sit the big slugger and let him be fresh for the big lights of Margarita Island on Thursday. I fully hope to see the Big Woofer swinging again tonight.
All-exciting NTIG player of the day award!
Despite some excellent hitting from Raul Pedron of Venezuela; Pablo Ozuna and Fernando Martinez of the Dominican Republic and Angel Sanchez of Puerto Rico there can only be one winner of this award on day two:
Dominican Republic starting pitcher Nelson Figueroa!
It’s really easy to root for Figgy sometimes. As a Mets fan the fact he’s not always that good does not detract from how fun it is to watch him mix in his curveball, changeup and slider alongside his fastball and makes it all the more fantastic when he puts in a good pitching display like yesterday.
Stay tuned for reviews of the remaining days of the CWS right here on Number Two is Grit. I’m also going to compile a CWS All-Star team when the series is over. Thanks for reading, now here’s the Beastie Boys in honour of NTIG player of the day – Brooklyn-born Nelson Figueroa.
Tags: Caribbean World Series, Dominican Republic, Kevin Barker, Mexico, Nelson Figueroa, Puerto Rico, Venezuela
