SANTO DOMINGO.– The Puerto Rico national team defeated the Dominican Republic 4-3 in extra innings during the opening game of the baseball tournament of the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026, held this Friday at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium.
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The Dominican team managed to tie the game in the seventh inning and took the lead in the eighth, but the Puerto Ricans reacted in the bottom of the inning to walk off the hosts with an RBI single by José Rivera with the bases loaded.
Puerto Rico took the lead from the first inning by scoring two runs against Dominican starter César Valdez, who later recovered and concluded his work with 3.1 innings of four hits, two earned runs, one walk, and four strikeouts.
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The Quisqueyan offense scored in the second inning with an RBI single by Michael De León, while the Dominican bullpen kept the game within reach by limiting the opposing offense for the rest of the game.
In the seventh inning, with the score at 2-1, the Dominican Republic tied the game thanks to a defensive error by Puerto Rico following a hit by Deivi Muñoz, sending the game into extra innings.
In the eighth inning, under the automatic runner rule, the Dominicans took a 3-2 lead on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.
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However, in the bottom of the inning, Puerto Rico took advantage of the lack of control from the Venezuelan relief pitching. Miguel Castro issued a bases-loaded walk that allowed the tying run, and immediately after, José Rivera hit a single to right field to drive in the winning run and seal the 4-3 victory.
For the Dominican Republic offense, Pedro Severino stood out, batting 3-for-1 with one run scored and one RBI, and Michael De León, who went 2-for-1 with an RBI.
For Puerto Rico, José Rivera led the attack by going 3-for-2 with the RBI that decided the game.
With this result, the Dominican team began its participation in the Santo Domingo 2026 baseball tournament with a defeat, while Puerto Rico took an important step in its aspirations to advance to the next phase of the competition.
