Juan Perez grand slam keeps Mexico in contention as hosts defeat Netherlands 8-6

Juan Perez became the hero of the night for Mexico, hitting a clutch grand slam in the eighth frame to turn the score over and give the host team a much-needed win to remain in contention for a spot in the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS Super Round. The Mexican center fielder turned a 6-4 deficit into an 8-6 lead with only one swing in the top of the eighth inning.

"Clutch hit, one of the most important hits in the history of the Mexican national team," said Benjamin Gil, manager of the Mexican National Team.

Mexico jumped ahead in the first inning. Netherlands starter Lars Huijer encountered trouble in the top of the first, allowing Mexico to capitalize. Alonso Gaitan drew a leadoff walk, and Andres Alvarez followed with an infield bunt single, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Mexico's first run came in an unorthodox way: Jose Rojas hit a deep fly ball to center field, enabling Gaitan to score from second on a sacrifice fly. Two more walks loaded the bases, and Alan Trejo then hit a bases-clearing double to right-center, giving Mexico a 4-0 lead.

Kevin Kelly replaced Huijer on the mound for the Netherlands and pitched extremely well, giving his team the chance to get back in the game and take the lead. "Kelly came into the ballgame and gave us a chance to tie the game and even go ahead. He pitched really, really well," mentioned Netherlands skipper, Evert Jan ‘t Hoen.

On the other side, Mexican starter Jorge Perez kept the Netherlands scoreless through the first four innings. However, in the fifth, Ray-Patrick Didder led off with a single, and Dwayne Kemp followed by blasting a long home run to left field off an 84mph pitch, cutting the deficit to 4-2. One out later, Didi Gregorious hit a double into the left center gap, and Jonathan Schoop sent the next pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark for an RBI triple. 

One inning later, Benjamin Gil sent flamethrower Cesar Gomez to the mound, who clocked 99mph with his first pitch. However, the high-speed fastball was not effective against the Netherlands, as Juremi Profar singled, Denzel Richardson doubled to right field (Profar was thrown out at home in that play) and Ray-Patrick Didder crushed a 98mph fastball sending it deep into left field to give the Netherlands a 5-4 lead. One inning later Richardson added one more on a solo shot to right field.

In the top of the eighth, Kelly walked Chris Carter on five pitches, retired Phillip Evans on a deep fly to center field, and then allowed a single, leaving the game with runners on first and second. "He run out of gas. We tried to stretch him as much as we could, but he slowed and they hit him twice," said ‘t Hoen.

Eric Mendez took over on the mound but couldn’t avoid the damage. After striking out Alan Trejo, he walked Tres Barrera to load the bases, and then Perez launched a grand slam to right field, putting Mexico back in the lead.

"Every player waits for that moment. Thank God my teammates got on base to make it possible, and I was just there, very calm," said the Mexican center fielder, who is playing his third Premier12 with the national team. "I just wanted to drive in at least one run. You never go up thinking, 'Oh, I’m going to hit a home run' - it never happens that way. So, I was there trying to lift up the crowd, the fans, and us, and thank God it worked out."

The Netherlands had a great offensive performance tonight, recording more than twice as many hits as Mexico in the game. "That's baseball. I mean, we had more hits. I thought we deserved to win this game. But baseball is not always what you deserve. That's also the beauty of the game," said ‘t Hoen. "I think we played a great game. We showed determination to win. But at the end, we didn't win."

For Gil, this is not so important. "Hits don’t matter; what matters are runs and also walks. If you look at the rally in the first inning, it was all walks," he said. "We had two hugely important hits, but before those hits, they didn’t throw strikes, and we took our walks. So, although we didn’t hit for a high average, we were a good offense because we got the clutch hit with runners on base."