OF Yefri Perez, left and 3B Diego Goris of the victorious Dominican Republic team which claimed the final Olympic berth with a win over Venezuela in Mexico.

June 26, 2021

By Robert Broughton

Canadian Baseball Network

PUEBLA, Mex. _ The Dominican Republic (4-0 in the tournament) defeated Venezuela (2-2) 8-5 at the Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdan before approximately 2,691 fans.

The win was created by a six-run fourth inning and gave the Dominican the sixth and final spot in the Tokyo Olympics.

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Box Score

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Jose Bautista missed the Mexico portion of the qualifier, but will re-join the team in Japan.

The winning Dominican team did not have former Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista in the lineup as it did during the qualifier in West Palm Beach. Bautista was at home in Tampa for the birth of his fourth daughter. He will re-join the Dominican team in Japan. In West Palm, Bautista said he was impressed with the play of Canadian SS Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.), the former Ontario Blue Jay and Mississauga Major.

Venezuela opened the scoring in the top of the second with a three-run “no doubt” home run in the top of the by RF Diego Rincones (of San Francisco Giants organization).

Venezuela loaded the bases with two out in the top of the third. DR relieved starter RHP Radhamés Liz (Leones de Yucatán) with RHP Jhan Mariñez and he got a fly out to leave the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the third, Venezuela starter LHP Yapson Gomez (Tigres de Quintana Roo) walked CF Emilio Bonifacio, and was replaced by RHP Eduardo Paredes. Paredes was greeted with a two-run home run by DH Melky Cabrera, cutting Venezuela’s lead to 3-2 after three innings. Both Bonifacio and Cabrera are former Toronto Blue Jays.

The Dominican took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. The inning started with singles by 1B Juan Francisco and LF Johan Mieses (Boston Red Sox organization), with Francisco scoring on a double by 3B Diego Goris (Aguilas Cibaenas).

SS Ramón Torres then hit a popup that was mishandled by SS Engelb Vielma (Navigantes de Magallanes), and Mieses scored for a 4-3 Dominican lead. The play was reviewed for possible base runner interference, but Torres was given the hit. C Charlie Valerio (Sioux Falls Canaries) hit an RBI double. The play at second was close, but it was reviewed, and Valerio was ruled safe. Now the Dominican was up 5-3.

The winning run came on a two-run single by 2B Gustavo Nuñez (Detroit Tigers organization). Bonifacio hit a scoring fly ball for the sixth run of the inning, and an 8-3 lead after four innings.

In the top of seventh, DH Danry Vásquez (Rieleros de Aguascalientes) hit what appeared to be an inside-the-park home run, but after a review, it was ruled a ground rule double. Vasquez scored anyway, on a single by LF Alexander Palma (Brewers organization). SS Vielma made a great play on a ground ball by Mieses to end the bottom of the seventh, with DR leading 8-4.

In the top of the eighth, Julio Rodríguez (Mariners organization) made a great catch in right field on fly ball by RF Diego Rincones (Giants organization). It saved a run, and the inning ended with a double play.

In the top of the ninth, Venezuela got one more run on an RBI double by Vasquez with two out. The game ended on a ground ball, with a final of 8-5.

LHP Darío Álvarez (Algonderos de Unión Laguna), who came into the game in the fourth and retired all three batters that he faced, was credited with the win.

RHP Harold Chirinos (Brewers organization), who entered in the fourth inning and didn’t record an out, got the loss.

Cabrera finished 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Goris was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Palma was 3-for-5 with an RBI for Venezuela.

Former big leaguers on the rosters included:

For the winning Dominican team _ Ramon Torres played two seasons for the Royals, and had a career average of .225; Cabrera played 15 seasons in the majors with nine teams, including an All-Star season in 2012; Liz played four seasons mostly for the Orioles, with a career record of 7-12 and a 6.94 ERA; Mariñez played five seasons in the major with seven teams and had a record of 1-5 and a 3.56 ERA, Bonifacio played 12 seasons in the big leagues with eight teams, with a career average of .256, while Francisco played six seasons in the with four teams and had a career average of .236, with 48 home runs and Álvarez played four seasons in the Major Leagues with three teams, posting a record of 6-1 and a 5.06 ERA.

Former big leaguers on the Venezuela roster included: Paredes played two seasons with the Angels, had a record of 0-1, 5.53 ERA, 32 strikeouts and Vielma,had a cup of coffee with the Orioles, batting .143.