By The Star Staff
A four-run rally in the eighth inning combined with a home run by Anthony García in the ninth powered the Mayagüez Indians of Puerto Rico to a 10-7 victory over the Dominican Republic Lions on Tuesday night in Mexicali, Mexico.
With the come-from-behind win, Puerto Rico -- which trailed 5-1 in the early going -- advanced to the semifinals of the Caribbean Series at El Nido de los Águilas Stadium in Baja California.
The Indians (Indios), who finished the series’ first stage with a 2-2 record, were to take on top seed Mexico (4-0) in the second of two knockout semifinals on Wednesday. Venezuela -- which blanked Japan 10-0 on a no-hitter Tuesday night -- was to play the Dominican Republic (2-2) in the other semifinal.
“It was a game in which they had the best at-bats,” acknowledged former Major League star Albert Pujols, manager of the Lions. “Definitely, in the last two innings they took advantage of the mistakes we made.”
The Indians opened a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rubén Castro tripled and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Emmanuel Rivera.
The Lions (Leones) struck back in the bottom half of the inning, batting through the order and putting up five runs on a bases-loaded infield error and a three-run blast by Junior Lake.
In the next inning, the Indians closed the gap to 5-3 on a triple by Isán Díaz and a single by Shed Long Jr. The Dominican Republic again upped the ante in the bottom half, plating two more runs on a sacrifice fly and a steal of home to extend its lead to 7-3.
Puerto Rico’s fourth run came in the fifth inning when Díaz scored on an infield grounder by Castro.
Eddie Rosario’s bases-loaded single to right field in the eighth inning evened the score at 7-7, and the Indians took the lead an out later on a wild pitch by reliever Jimmy Cordero. García’s solo homer in the next inning accounted for the final score.
Carlos Francisco (1-0) earned the win after not allowing runs in a rough inning in which he allowed just two hits. Justin Yeager notched his second save in the series. Joe Corbett took the loss for the Lions, allowing five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
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