{"id":496658,"date":"2026-01-03T20:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/de-la-cruz-dominates-and-the-offense-responds-aguilas-cut-leones-undefeated-streak-with-a-4-1-victory\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:47:58","slug":"de-la-cruz-dominates-and-the-offense-responds-aguilas-cut-leones-undefeated-streak-with-a-4-1-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/sports\/baseball\/de-la-cruz-dominates-and-the-offense-responds-aguilas-cut-leones-undefeated-streak-with-a-4-1-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"De la Cruz dominates and the offense responds: \u00c1guilas cut Leones&#8217; undefeated streak with a 4-1 victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>SANTIAGO.\u2013<\/strong> Backed by a solid opening by <strong>\u00d3scar De la Cruz<\/strong> and a timely offensive of <strong>11 unstoppable hits<\/strong>, the <strong>\u00c1guilas Cibae\u00f1as<\/strong> defeated this Saturday <strong>4-1 the Leones del Escogido<\/strong> at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium, putting an end to the capitalinos&#8217; undefeated streak in the 2025-2026 semifinal series of the Dominican Baseball League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You may be interested in:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ab.deultimominuto.net\/deportes\/beisbol\/alberto-rodriguez-gana-el-novato-del-ano-de-lidom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alberto Rodr\u00edguez wins LIDOM Rookie of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n\n\nDe la Cruz was the dominant figure of the night by pitching <strong>six scoreless innings<\/strong>, allowing only <strong>two hits<\/strong>, with <strong>one walk<\/strong> and <strong>four strikeouts<\/strong>. The right-hander held a no-hitter until the fifth inning and showed great control and efficiency, facing only <strong>20 batters<\/strong>, two more than the minimum.\n\nThe yellow offense attacked the rival pitching early with a rally of <strong>three runs in the first inning<\/strong>. <strong>Leody Taveras<\/strong> opened the inning by drawing a walk, stole second base and scored on a run-scoring single by <strong>Ezequiel Dur\u00e1n<\/strong>. Then, after a hit by <strong>Aderl\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, <strong>Jonathan Clase<\/strong> hit a run-producing single; an error by the right fielder on the play allowed Rodr\u00edguez to score the third run of the inning, knocking out the starting pitcher <strong>Jos\u00e9 Urquidy<\/strong>.\n\nThe Eagles extended their lead in the <strong>third inning<\/strong>, when <strong>Cristhian Adames<\/strong> received a walk, stole second, and scored on a single to left field by <strong>Aderl\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, making the score 4-0.\n\nThe Lions avoided the shutout in the <strong>eighth inning<\/strong>, when <strong>Jos\u00e9 Marmolejos<\/strong> hit a double and scored on a run-scoring single by <strong>Franchy Cordero<\/strong>, for the final 4-1.\n\nWith the victory, the Eagles improved their record to 3-3, achieving their second consecutive triumph and approaching the second place of the Round Robin, occupied by the Toros del Este (3-2). The Lions, despite the defeat, remain at the top with a record of 5-1.\n\nThe win went to <strong>\u00d3scar De la Cruz (1-0)<\/strong>, the loss to <strong>Jos\u00e9 Urquidy (0-1)<\/strong> and the save to <strong>Burch Smith<\/strong>.\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Featured Pitching<\/h3>\n\n\nAfter De la Cruz&#8217;s departure, <strong>Jonathan Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> worked a scoreless inning in the seventh. <strong>Carlos Bel\u00e9n<\/strong> allowed a run in the eighth, was relieved by <strong>Andrew P\u00e9rez<\/strong>, who stifled a threat with bases loaded and one out, and <strong>Burch Smith<\/strong> retired the ninth without incident to seal the victory.\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Leones, Urquidy allowed <strong>three runs (one unearned)<\/strong> and <strong>three hits<\/strong> in just <strong>two-thirds of an inning<\/strong>. The relief was handled by <strong>Patrick Halligan, Grant Gavin, Jefry Yan, Alexander Colom\u00e9, H\u00e9ctor Neris, Aneurys Zabala, Carlos Teller and Stephen Nogosek<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Offensive Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n<strong>Aderl\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong> led the Aguilas offense by batting <strong>5-4<\/strong>, with <strong>one RBI and one run scored<\/strong>. <strong>Ezequiel Dur\u00e1n<\/strong> and <strong>Jonathan Clase<\/strong> went <strong>3-1<\/strong>, with one RBI each. <strong>Cristhian Adames, Leody Taveras, and Steward Berroa<\/strong> contributed a hit.\n\nFor the Leones, <strong>Raimel Tapia<\/strong> hit <strong>4-3<\/strong>; <strong>Jos\u00e9 Marmolejos<\/strong> connected a double; <strong>Franchy Cordero<\/strong> drove in a run and <strong>Jorge Mateo<\/strong> singled.\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Productive Return<\/h3>\n\n\nIn his first game back with the Eagles, shortstop <strong>Geraldo Perdomo<\/strong> hit <strong>two hits in four at-bats<\/strong>, immediately showing his offensive impact.\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Luxury Defense<\/h3>\n\n\n<strong>Cristhian Adames<\/strong> shined in the infield with several high-level defensive plays, including a spectacular backhanded catch on a hit by <strong>Jonathan Guzm\u00e1n<\/strong>, completing the out with a precise throw to first base.\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next Match<\/h3>\n\n\nThe <strong>\u00c1guilas Cibae\u00f1as<\/strong> will receive this <strong>Sunday<\/strong> again the <strong>Leones del Escogido<\/strong> at the <strong>Cibao Stadium<\/strong>, in a match scheduled to start at <strong>4:00 p.m.<\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SANTIAGO.\u2013 Backed by a solid opening by \u00d3scar De la Cruz and a timely offensive of 11 unstoppable hits, the \u00c1guilas Cibae\u00f1as defeated this Saturday 4-1 the Leones del Escogido at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium, putting an end to the capitalinos&#8217; undefeated streak in the 2025-2026 semifinal series of the Dominican Baseball League. You [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":972,"featured_media":496659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[35481],"tags":[611,40231,9098,40853],"class_list":["post-496658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baseball","tag-deultimominuto","tag-dominican-republic","tag-lidom","tag-thetruthnewspaper"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-25cC","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/IMG-20260103-WA01101.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yamell Rossi","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-7a176880-76f8-4b0c-9527-4e34feef45e4-96x96.jpg","categories_name":["Baseball"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/IMG-20260103-WA01101.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/972"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}