Caracas.- It may seem like a very distant time now, but, in reality, it was just over a month ago when Navegantes del Magallanes only scored 32 runs in nine games between November 14 and 23, at a rate of 3.5 points per game, to drown in its offensive unproductivity. The Ship changed its reality and rebounded to the point that it scored 37 scores in its recent two games to secure a place in the postseason.
The team reborn under the command of Yadier Molina and the emergence of Kleininger Terán as hitting coach, gave him a plus 17-6 to Tiburones de La Guaira on Friday, at the Universitario Stadium. With that result, in the worst case scenario, they guaranteed playing the Wild Card Series with the home club advantage.
Magallanes, in the same way, left its record above .500 for the first time in the season and, with one day left in the elimination round – not counting the possibility of extra games – caused a triple tie for third place in the classification table, with Caribes de Anzoátegui and Águilas del Zulia.
Since November 23, when the acute hitting crisis left the Carabela with a record of 12-20 in the last step of the circuit, the club has a record of 16-7, the best among the eight teams in that period.
Magallanes went from hitting 23 home runs with an OPS of .687 in those first 32 games of the season, to showing an OPS of .898 and hitting 40 homers – including four tonight against the sharks – in the recent 23 games.
EXPLOSIVE FAREWELL
Table of Contents
The buccaneer players capitalized on the four defensive errors of La Guaira, in addition to the nine walks by the coastal pitching, and launched fireworks into the capital sky to say goodbye to their ace Ricardo Sánchez, who according to his manager Molina announced before the start of the duel, He will not be with the team for an eventual Round Robin.
The naval artillery hit six extra-base hits, including the home runs by Carlos Rodríguez as the first batter of the duel (against Ángel Macuare), Luis Sardinas with one on base (also against Macuare), in addition to the solo hits by Renato Núñez (against Eduardo Paredes) and the reappeared Yasiel Puig (as a pinch-hitter, with Emerson Martínez on the mound), to support Sánchez’s work.
The left-hander scored the victory, his fifth of the season, after pitching 5.1 innings of three runs – all earned – with seven strikeouts and four walks, before abandoning the challenge due to back discomfort.
“For me La Guaira is just another team. All the teams and players in this league are difficult,” said the main candidate for Pitcher of the Year in the post-challenge interview with Diógenes Nazar, from 1 Baseball Network. “I just focus on trusting myself, no matter who I’m pitching against.”
After his performance of the day, the Puerto Cabello native maintained his lead in ERA (3.04) and innings pitched (68.0) and tied the lead in wins (5) on the circuit. In addition, he raised his total number of fans to 58, the second most in the tournament.
“I trust my team so much that I only focus on throwing,” said the virtual winner of the “Carrao Bracho.” “I only attack the hitters, because I know that I have eight people behind me (on the field) who can do the job. That mutual trust has been the key.”
WHAT’S COMING
Magallanes (28-27) will return to Valencia to receive Cardenales de Lara on Saturday, in search of direct qualification to the All Against All, with José Suárez as the filibuster starter. Tiburones (26-29), for its part, will face the already eliminated Leones del Caracas, with the need to win the duel and for Tigres de Aragua to lose its match against Bravos de Aragua, to force an extra game for sixth place. Zac Grotz will open the Saturday meeting for the sharks.
FROM THE GROUND
MAGELLAN
- – Yhonaiker Fajardo (LD), Navegantes reserve in the LVBP, was one of the players acquired by the San Luis Cardinals in the exchange for the also Venezuelan Willson Contreras (1B), Sharks reservist. Fajardo, 20 years old, already appears as the Redbirds’ ninth best prospect, according to MLBPipeline.
- – Nivaldo Rodríguez (LD) renewed his contract with the CTBC Brothers of Taiwan, after compiling a brilliant ERA of 1.84 and WHIP of 1.04 in 156.1 innings in the recent season, with a ratio of 142 strikeouts and 35 walks. It will be Rodríguez’s third consecutive campaign on the Taiwanese circuit.
- – Magallanes announced the hiring of Dominican pitchers Esmil Rogers, Oliver Ortega y Felix Cepedaall rights. Rogers, a 40-year-old veteran, will reinforce the team as a starter for the second time, after doing so in 2018-2019. Ortega and Cepeda, for their part, will shield the bullpen. They will all arrive in Venezuela in the coming days.
- -Tucupita Marcano (UTI) traveled outside the country to attend to personal commitments, the team’s press department reported. That was the reason why he left the roster on Sunday and will not be available again until an eventual Round Robin.
- – Amílcar Chirinos (LD) ended his participation with Magallanes this campaign. He finished with a 4.64 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 21.1 innings spread over 26 appearances, with five holds, 29 strikeouts, 17 walks and a 3-0 record. Chirinos gave up his place on the roster to Jesus Zambrano (LD).
- – Renato Núñez (1B) and Carlos Rodríguez (CF) exited the game as a precaution in the fifth and sixth innings respectively. Núñez played the match between cottons due to a simple quadriceps contracture. Rodríguez, meanwhile, injured his knee after crashing into Angel Reyes.
- – Oddanier Mosqueda (LHP) signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates with an invitation to Spring Training. In 2025 he recorded a 4.52 ERA in 65.2 innings with the Triple A branch of the St. Louis Cardinals.
- – Keywill Cedeño (LD) and Arnaldo Hernandez (LD) entered the Sharks roster for Pedro Garcia (LD) and Yangervis Solarte (INF).
- – Solarte left La Guaira’s active roster due to a family emergency, as he reported on his social network account X: “My newborn daughter was very involved in my stay there (in Venezuela). The last three weeks that I played there, she was hospitalized.”
IN NUMBERS
- – Magallanes equaled the particular series against Tiburones in this eliminatory round 4-4.
- – Carlos Rodriguez raised his career total of leadoff home runs to five and tied the LVBP record with Danny Sandoval, Niuman Romero e Ildemaro Vargasaccording to the archives of the journalist and historian Tony Flores.
- – Renato Núñez He reached 10 homers in the season and joined Rougned Odor (12) as the sixth Magallanes duo with double digits of home runs in a campaign, according to the Pelota Binaria search engine. The previous ones were Luis “Chameleon” García y Bill Taylor (1953-1954), Clarence “Cito” Gaston y Pat Kelly (1968-1969), Bryan LaHair y Mario Lisson (2011-2012), Eliezer Alfonzo y Carlos Maldonado (2012-2013) y Eliezer Alfonzo y Mario Lisson (2013-2014).
- – For Sharks, Ronald Acuña Jr. He went 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs batted in and one scored. The fountain homer Ricardo Sanchezin the first inning.
- – 3 hours and 41 minutes was the duration of the game.
- – 12 mil 862 fans attended the University Stadium.
