Combined no-hitter moves Puerto Rico closer to decisive showdown vs. Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic take part in what many consider the best baseball rivalry of the Caribbean.
When the two meet again Wednesday night in Miami, it could become one of their most historic chapters.
Puerto Rico made sure to take care of its part emphatically on Monday night.
Starting pitcher Jose De Leon matched a World Baseball Classic record with 10 strikeouts and combined with Yacksel Rios, Edwin Diaz and Duane Underwood Jr. on an eight-inning, combined no-hitter and a 10-0 mercy rule victory over Israel at loanDepot park. Although Puerto Rico did not allow a baserunner, the game does not officially count as a perfect game because it did not record 27 outs.
Puerto Rico moved to 2-1 in the WBC’s Pool D standings, bouncing back after its loss one night earlier to pool leader Venezuela.
Should Venezuela clinch the top spot in Pool D with a win Tuesday over Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic beat Israel - both highly expected results - it would make Wednesday night’s game between Puerto Rico and the Dominican a must-win game for both sides in order to advance to the WBC quarterfinals this weekend.
Both teams would be tied with 2-1 records with Venezuela having already claimed the other of the two spots from Pool D.
“This is going to be the most important game in the tournament,” Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina said. “We are going to be ready for that.”
While Puerto Rico can rest on Tuesday, the Dominican Republic is also bracing for the big game, but not looking past Israel.
“We have a plan (for how we’ll use our pitchers),” Dominican Republic manager Rodney Linares said. “It was almost perfect today, but everyone is available and ready. We have to win tomorrow in order to get to the next game versus Puerto Rico.”
Enrique Hernandez walked off Israel with an RBI single to score Martin Maldonado in the bottom of the eighth.
Hernandez and Javier Baez began the offensive onslaught early with two-run doubles in the first two innings. Eddie Rosario also had an RBI triple in the first and Emmanuel Rivera had an RBI triple in the second as Puerto Rico led 6-0 after two.
De Leon set a new team record for Puerto Rico in a WBC game, and matched the record for the most by a pitcher in a WBC game set by Ubaldo Jimenez in 2009.
The moment proved to be special for De Leon, who threw only the second no-hitter in any WBC game and came in front of a crowd of 27,813, many of which stayed to celebrate outside the ballpark after the game.
De Leon said after the game he and the other three pitchers involved signed the ball as did starting catcher Martin Maldonado.
De Leon, who has bounced back and forth from the majors to the minors due to multiple injuries in his career, said he hadn’t yet talked to his family immediately after the game, but had over 300 text messages on his phone.
“I’m going to put the ball in my house,” De Leon said. “Having a moment like this after all the obstacles that I had overcome in my career, playing with my family here in the crowd, playing for Puerto Rico, and wearing the Puerto Rican jersey makes this 100 times more special. I still don’t believe it. This is a dream I’m living. A very special one.”
Maldonado, who catches for the Astros and was the backstop on last year’s World Series championship team as well as Houston’s combined no-hitter against the Yankees, worked well with De Leon and the three relievers involved to keep the game perfect.
“At the end of the day we believe in our pitchers,” Maldonado said. “We know what kind of bullpen we have. We were more than happy with what José did early in the game, just keeping us on the ball game. We executed our plan as a team and with the plan we had good results today.”
But Maldonado knows full well that the accomplishment of Monday night’s game will only mean more if Puerto Rico can secure victory on Wednesday.
“We are going to go out to the field and fight. We have to control what we can control,” Maldonado said. “We have to be focused. We are going to capitalize on all the opportunities and to play the good baseball that we have played in the last games.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 9:45 PM.
