Ramón Laureano Walk-Off Homer Extends Escogido Streak to Nine

Ramón Laureano hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Leones del Escogido a 6-4 walk-off victory over Toros del Este on Tuesday night in Santo Domingo, extending the defending champions’ LIDOM winning streak to a record nine games.

Escogido entered its final turn at bat trailing 4-3 at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal. Vidal Bruján stood at third base and John Gil at first when Laureano faced Lucas Sims with one out.

Laureano had gone hitless in his first four at-bats of his season debut. Down 0-2, he drove an 84 mph slider 378 feet over the left-field wall. The ball left his bat at 110 mph, instantly turning a one-run deficit into a 6-4 victory and setting off a celebration at home plate.

Escogido erases a four-run first inning

Toros controlled the opening inning and scored four runs before Escogido recorded an out. Jesús Sánchez supplied the biggest blow with a two-run homer, and Leones starter Jeremy Rhoades departed without retiring a batter.

Escogido answered with two runs in the bottom half when Franchy Cordero doubled home Erik González and José Marmolejos. Marco Hernández’s RBI single in the sixth reduced the deficit to 4-3 and gave the Leones a chance to win with one late swing.

The bullpen made that comeback possible. Héctor Pérez worked two innings after replacing Rhoades, followed by Reid VanScoter, Juan Mercedes, Luis Guerrero, Patrick Halligan, Aneurys Zabala, Elvis Peguero and Héctor Neris. The relief corps did not allow another run after Toros’ four-run first.

Neris struck out two in a scoreless ninth and earned the victory, improving to 1-0. Sims took the loss after allowing all three ninth-inning runs.

Laureano’s debut pushes the streak to nine

Laureano finished 1-for-5, but his only hit decided the game and drove in three. Cordero went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, González collected two hits and Hernández supplied the other run-scoring hit.

Toros outhit Escogido 12-8 and did not commit an error, yet the Leones’ bullpen and Laureano’s final swing overturned that statistical advantage.

The win moved first-place Escogido to 10-4 and dropped Toros to 5-9. It followed a 2-1 victory over Águilas Cibaeñas that had extended the streak to eight, but Tuesday’s comeback was the most dramatic result of the run: a four-run deficit erased by eight scoreless relief innings and a debutant’s two-strike walk-off homer.