Caribbean Series: Day Three

Mexico 4, Venezuela 2.  Carlos Valencia’s two-run double highlighted a three-run sixth for Mexico.  Iker Franco had two hits for Mexico. Starter Rolando Valdez worked seven strong innings, giving up just two unearned runs on four hits and no walks while striking out five.  Luis Ayala allowed two hits but no runs in the ninth to get his second save of the series.  Adonis Garcia led Venezuela with two hits.  Starter Brian Sweeney took the loss, giving up four runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out six in 5.1 innings.  Pedro Guerra pitched a perfect eighth with two strikeouts for Venezuela.

Dominican Republic 6, Puerto Rico 1.  The Dominican Republic broke a scoreless tie with two in the fourth and put the game away with three in the sixth.  Pablo Ozuna had three singles and Erick Almonte had two to lead the Dominican Republic.  Raul Valdes got the win, allowing just an unearned run on five hits and a walk in six innings.  Ramon Garcia worked the final three innings scorelessly, striking out three while giving up one hit, to get the save.  For Puerto Rico, Jorge Padilla had three hits.  Starter Bobby Livingston took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk in 3.2 innings.  Pedro Florimon was 0-for-3 but walked and scored for the Dominican Republic.  Rene Rivera was 0-for-4 for Puerto Rico.  Nelvin Fuentes walked both men he faced and was charged with a run for Puerto Rico.

The Dominican Republic is in sole possession of first place with a perfect 3-0 record.  Second is Mexico at 2-1, followed by Puerto Rico at 1-2 and Venezuela at 0-3.  The Series is a six-game round robin.