Former basketball player and sports analyst Natalia Meléndez defended pitcher Alexis Díaz after he was criticized and humiliated on social media for his performance in the game that eliminated Puerto Rico to Mexico at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) .
During the opening game between Venezuela and the United States at Wapa Deportes, Meléndez dedicated a few words to people who spoke out against leader Yadier Molina for putting Díaz on the mound when the Puerto Ricans had the advantage.
“Something that can’t happen to our players in this country is falling on them, since a lot of people have fallen on Alexis, in that part I can’t be silent because I’ve seen a bunch of memes that gave me a lot of courage have because Alexis didn’t have to put the shirt on to represent Puerto Rico if he didn’t want to because he’s a millionaire and he’s already made a career and nobody climbs the hill to do wrong, he climbed there things right and try to give us a triumph, we applaud them when they are good, when they are bad we can criticize them, but we have no right to humiliate an athlete who wears our country’s jersey, because he represents us, then as Puerto Ricans we have to go out there and say, you know what kind of horse everything is. It’s going to be fine,” Melendez said.
The comeback for the Mexicans came when Alexis Díaz took the mound and allowed a rally that leveled the game and later took a 5-4 lead.
Puerto Rico falls to Mexico and the Puerto Rican dream ends
The Puerto Rican national team lost to Mexico and ended their participation in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
The final result was 5:4.
Puerto Rico started the lead with two homers in the first inning from Javier Báez and Eddie Rosario to start the game 4-0 against the Mexicans.
In the second inning, Isaac Paredes brought Mexico into play with a home run of their own to give the Mexicans a 4-1 lead.
The Mexicans threatened to take the lead in the fifth inning, with bases loaded, Stroman struggled to hold off Mexico’s offense, allowing for an extra run from Alex Verdugo. With the bases loaded, Molina had to head out onto the hill and Stroman’s participation ended to bring in Yacksel Ríos.
A Neftalí Soto catch prevented the Mexicans from continuing another run and eventually Ríos saved Puerto Rico from the situation.
In the seventh inning, the trumpets sounded for Alexis Díaz’s entrance, he used Edwin Díaz’s peculiar entrance song to honor his brother, who was injured in the game against the Dominican Republic. After several pitches from Díaz, Puerto Rico again faced a base-full situation for which Molina had to make another pitching change. Jorge López stepped in for Díaz, who allowed two extra runs against the loaded bases that split the game 4-4.
Luis Urías with a lone drive in the fifth heat for Mexico that put them ahead in the seventh inning.
A spectacular catch by Randy Arozarena prevented Puerto Rico from advancing after a drive by Emmanuel Rivera.
The winner of the game will face Japan in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic, which will be played on Monday at 7:00 p.m. Puerto Rico time.
Mexico reaches the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in the history of this country’s participation in the classic.