The Mexican Pacific League and Dominican Leagues both begin their championship playoff series on Saturday — best of 7 series for the Mexicans, and best of 9 series for the Dominicans. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan League has only two more days left in the regular season, and the Puerto Rican League is in the middle of their best-of-9 championship series.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Indios de Mayaguez 7, Criollos de Caguas 4
Los Indios took a 3-2 lead in the series with a solid win over Los Criollos. Bobby Livingston made the start for Los Indios, and pitched into the 4th inning, allowing one run in each inning, including 2 solo home runs. Los Indios scored one run on two doubles in the 2nd inning, then scored 5 runs in a big 5th inning, with 5 singles, a double, and 2 walks. A solo homer gave Los Indios one more run in the 8th. Justin Thomas pitched 2 perfect innings for Los Indios, including 2 strikeouts.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Tigres de Aragua 6, Caribes de Anzoategui 4
Los Tigres began the day half a game ahead of Los Caribes in the round-robin standings. Tonight’s win boosted them to 1.5 games up, insuring Los Tigres a first-place finish. This was Los Caribes’ last game in the round-robin series, and Los Tigres play one more game against Magallanes on Saturday. 1B Hector Gimenez got Los Tigres started with a 3-run homer in the 1st inning, then a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning gave them a 5-1 lead. Los Caribes scored one run in the top of the 1st with a double, a sacrifice bunt by CF Gorkys Hernandez, and an RBI single. Los Caribes added a 2-run homer in the top of the 5th, cutting the lead to 5-3. Los Tigres’ third homer of the night, a solo blast, made in 6-4 in the bottom of the 5th. Exicardo Cayones pinch run for Los Caribes in the 8th, but did not score. He remained in the game to play left field. CF Jorge Cortes went 0-for-2 for Los Tigres.
Aguilas del Zulia 11, Tiburones de La Guaira 6
Los Aguilas pulled out another rare win, scoring in four of their first five innings, including a 5-run 5th. DH Carlos Maldonado got Los Aguilas off to a good start with a 3-run homer in the 1st, then contributed an RBI single in the 3rd inning. A 2-run single and another 3-run homer brought in the runs in the 5th.
we’ll catch up with the Australians in the morning…
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