The “Wild Horse ” Yasiel Puig continues to have a dominant winter league season, last night the outfielder from Cienfuegos, Cuba went yard in the top of the eighth inning to seal a Venezuelan 3-1 win over the Dominican representative the Tigres del Licey on the opening night of the Serie del Caribe in Miami.
The slugger also scored one time on the evening for the Tiburones. Puig who is looking to sign with a professional ball club this summer has now homered 17 times combined between his stints in the LVBP and the LIDOM.
Yasiel Puig may just have put the nail in the coffin on this game. Venezuela extends their lead, 3-1.
Exit velo: 107.6 mph
Distance: 416 feet#SerieDelCaribe2024 pic.twitter.com/A11B9nevMn
— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) February 2, 2024
For the DR and in a loss Raúl Valdes pitched very effective tossing 4 ⅓ innings of five-hit, one-run ball on the evening. In his ninth Serie del Caribe the lefty Mariel, Cuba has a 3.49 earned run average in 75 ⅔ innings pitched over that span.
In the earlier game JC Escarra collected a hit and drew a walk to do his part in the Criollos de Gaguas’ 5-2 win. The Cuban-American backstop played first base on the evening and will be a key figure for the Puerto Rican ball club during the tournament.
Cuban action on the evening:
Miguel Romero (VEN) 5.1IP,3H,ER,3K,
Yasiel Puig (VEN) 3-1,HR,RBI,R
Yadiel Hernández (RD) 4-0
Raúl Valdés (RD) 4.1IP,5H,ER,3K,2BB
JC Escarra (PR) 2-1*
*Cuban-American