Porto Rico confirmed role of the favorite against Czechs
Czech Republic is still waiting for their first win at DIBAT after three games. They were able to keep up with Porto Rico for 4 innings, however, in the end Czechs lost 1-9.
Czechs started with Daniel Sobotka on the mound and he had a really good game, when he threw 2 scoreless innings. Viktor Kaňok came in for him in the third inning, but he was only able to throw a single out. He left the ball to Michael Cajz with the bases loaded and score at 0-1. Cajz handled the situation and did not allow any runs.
„The second pitcher had some troubles with the control, and we had to substitute him with another guy who showed resilience and confidence. This added energy to our dugout and we managed to push,“ said coach Jakub Malík for Porto Rican’s television after the third inning. „The opponent has a great defense and we have to keep up the energy and we will get a chance to score.“
However, this wasn’t meant to be for the Czech Republic. Instead Porto Rico pressed Czechs in the fifth inning. Cajz came out after an out and Matyáš Hasal came in for him. Hasal had issues with the control, but he wasn’t helped by the defense either, and Porto Rico managed to increase their lead to 6-0. Tomáš Plachý then came to finish the inning, however Melendez welcomed him with a long hit to the warning track after which Porto Rico was 9-0 ahead.
Czechs scored in the sixth inning for the first time. Nikolas Hluchý’s triple batted in Matyáš Novotný. Czechs were unable to put together more as the game was stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning due to a time limit.
Czechs are thus still waiting for the first win of the tournament. This can come on Tuesday, when they face Colombia, who are also waiting for the first win at DIBAT this year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 1 | ||||
| Porto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | X | X | 9 |
