Mario Sanchez 10-strikeout outing lifts Venezuela to victory over USA

Venezuela earned a key win in Tepic, 5-3, against USA on Tuesday to take first place in the WBSC Premier12 presented by RAXUS Group A standings with a 2-1 record. Venezuela starter Mario Sanchez, struck out 10 in six quality innings, giving up three hits and two runs, and was the winner of the game. 

"The key was to stick to the plan, trusting in my team’s offense, trusting my catcher, and everything we planned from the start for the game," said Sanchez. "Thank God it gave us the result we expected, and that was it - following the plan was the key." 

A Carlos Perez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning put Venezuela on the scoreboard. Angel Reyes led-off the inning with a single, moved to third on a single by Francisco Arcia and scored from there on a Perez fly.

USA scored immediately after, with a home run by Matt Shaw, his second of the tournament. He sent a 76mph breaking ball offered by Mario Sanchez well over the center field wall to tie the game. It was Shaw's second homer in the last three at bats.

In the bottom half of the same inning, Venezuela took the lead again with two outs. Herlis Rodriguez hit a single to center field, and scored from there on a clutch RBI-double by Diego Castillo.

Shaw continued his impressive performance driving in the game-tying run again in the sixth inning. Chandler Simpson reached on an infield single, and moved to third on a throwing error by pitcher Sanchez. He scored on a sac fly by Shaw, to make it 2-2. In the last two USA games, Shaw produced nine of the last 15 runs, scoring four times.

However, Venezuela jumped ahead again in the bottom half of the same inning, Venezuela took a three-run lead. The key play of the inning was a USA defensive error, when catcher Willie Maciver threw to second base on a sac bunt when shortstop Carson Williams wasn't covering the base.

Mario Sanchez, tossed six innings, and then Manager Omar Lopez turned to the bullpen using six relievers to retire the last nine outs.

"It was Game Seven for us. We needed to do everything possible to secure victory. If we had to use the entire bullpen, we would do so to neutralize USA's offence," Lopez said. "The plan was simply to study their lineup when they handed it to us and see how we could use our bullpen pieces without having any fixed roles. I didn’t hesitate to make moves when I needed to because every run counts in this tournament."

Asked about the Venezuelan pitching staff, Sanchez praised his teammates. "We have a solid rotation, quite experienced, quite strong, young and experienced at the same time. I believe that’s going to be the key—the pitching, not just the rotation but the bullpen as well."