A home run by Rodriguez defines R.D.'s victory over P.R. at Citi Field

Emmanuel Rodríguez hit a two-run home run and Wester Rivas drove in two runs as the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 2-6 in the "Showdown" event, held this Saturday at Citi Field in New York, home of the Mets in the Major Leagues. The encounter, which pitted the stars of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (Lidom) and the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Lbprc) of Puerto Rico against each other, marked a milestone by becoming the first official "All-Star Game" type matchup held on the continental territory of the United States.

 Tributes to Delgado and Cano

In an atmosphere charged by the flavor of both Caribbean countries, Dominican ex-second baseman Robinson Canó and Puerto Rican Carlos Delgado were honored for their careers in baseball. Delgado received a recognition before the start of the game, while Cano, who started as a second baseman and third batter for the Dominican team, was removed from the game in the seventh inning by his compatriot Luis Castillo, amid the joy of those present. As a token of recognition for both baseball figures, the teams of both nations played wearing the number 24 jacket of Canó, in the case of the Dominican team, and the 21 of Delgado, the Puerto Ricans. In the inaugural ceremony, Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa and Dominican merengue singer and senator Héctor Acosta, also known as 'El Torito', performed the national anthems of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, respectively. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Dominican disc jockey and record producer DJ Adoni and Puerto Rican boxer Edgar Verlanga.

 The party's action

In the game, the Puerto Ricans threatened to take the lead in the second inning, when they placed runners on first and third with no "outs", but César Valdez retired Luis Vázquez with a line drive to the third baseman, eliminated Isan Díaz and after giving a walk to Martín Maldonado, dominated Bryan Torres with a ground ball to end the inning without allowing a run. The Dominicans also loaded the pads in the third chapter, after two "outs", but Andrew Marrero eliminated Aderlin Rodríguez to keep the game scoreless. Although both teams continued to put runners in scoring position, the game remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning, when the Dominicans scored three times against reliever Yacksel Rios. The Dominicans' first run in that sixth inning came on the legs of Aderlin Rodriguez, who scored on a fly ball to center field by Socrates Brito. Wester Rivas was in charge of adding the other two annotations of the Dominicans, with an indisputable one to center field, with which he drove in Emmanuel Rodríguez and Cristhian Adames. The ones from the Island of Enchantment responded by scoring two runs in the seventh inning, when with two outs, Jack López hit a fly ball against Jefry Yan, which fell between left fielder Emmanuel Rodriguez and shortstop Ángel Genao, allowing Johneshwy Fargas and Nelson Velázquez to score. The Lidom players struck back in the eighth inning, when with Brito on base, Emmanuel Rodríguez crushed a "pitch" (pitch) from Osvaldo Berrios, to send the ball over the right field wall, adding two runs to the scoreboard. In the ninth act, Junior Lake hit a double to right field against Jonathan Bermudez, bringing Angel Genao to the plate with the sixth run for the Dominicans. The victory went to Gabriel Ynoa (1-0), who pitched a scoreless inning and the loss to Yacksel Ríos (0-1), who was attacked with three runs in two-thirds of an inning.