A big day for Oswaldo Arcia. A good day for Eduardo Escobar, too. A double-digit inning for Aragua.
CARACAS 10, ANZOATEGUI 4 IN ANZOATEGUI
Twins: Eduardo Escobar (Anzoategui) was 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run (his second), scoring twice.
Caracas: Ramon Cabrera was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run (his second), driving in two. Alex Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a grand slam and two runs. Victor Garate struck out six in five innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks.
Anzoategui: Carlos Duran was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer. Jose Castillo was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Leslie Anderson (Tampa Bay) was 2-for-5 with a double.
The game: Ramon Cabrera (Detroit) doubled in a run and another scored on a ground out to give Caracas a 2-0 lead in the third. Castillo singled in Escobar in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1. Caracas gradually pulled away, scoring single runs in the fifth, sixth, and eight before getting five in the ninth to go ahead 10-1. Caracas scored three in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score look a little better.
ARAGUA 2, MARGARITA 1 IN ARAGUA (GAME 1--8 INNINGS--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Twins: Oswaldo Arcia (Aragua) was 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run, his sixth. Edgar Ibarra (Aragua) struck out the only man he faced. Dakota Watts (Aragua) pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Margarita: Kensuke Tanaka was 2-for-4. Frank Del Valle (Cubs) pitched 4.2 innings, giving up only one run despite giving up four hits and five walks with two strikeouts. Junior Sosa (Pittsburgh) was 1-for-3 with a double and a run.
Aragua: Ronny Cedeno (San Diego) was 2-for-3. Yorman Bazardo struck out four in four innings, allowing an unearned run on six hits and one walk. Jorge Rondon (St. Louis) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk and striking out two.
The game: Hector Gimenez homered in the second inning to give Aragua a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Sosa doubled and scored on an error to tie it up. It stayed tied through seven. In the eighth, Arcia hit a leadoff walkoff homerun.
ARAGUA 17, MARGARITA 5 IN ARAGUA (GAME 2--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Twins: Oswaldo Arcia (Aragua) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a grand slam (his seventh homer), scoring three times.
Margarita: Breyvic Valera (St. Louis) was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Kensuke Tanaka was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Adam Duvall (San Francisco) was 2-for-4 with a run.
Aragua: Ramon Castro was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in three. Alex Romero was 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one. Hector Gimenez was 1-for-1 with two walks and two runs.
The game: Margarita took the lead with a run in the top of the second, but Aragua came roaring back with eleven in the bottom of the second. The first ten batters of the inning reached base, three on walks, two on errors, three on singles, one on a double, and the tenth was the Arcia grand slam. Margarita got it down to 11-5 in the fifth, but Aragua scored six more in the sixth.
LARA 8, MAGALLANES 3 IN MAGALLANES
Lara: Jairo Perez was 2-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Luis Valbuena (Cubs) was 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run homer, his second. Red Patterson (Dodgers) pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Magallanes: Lew Ford was 2-for-4. Frank Diaz was 2-for-4. Ezequiel Carrera was 1-for-1 with three walks and a double, scoring once.
The game: Joe Thurston led off the game with a homer and Perez hit an RBI triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to put Lara ahead 3-0 in the first. Magallanes hung in there, closing to 4-2 in the sixth on a Juan Rivera homer. Lara put the game out of reach with four in the ninth, with one run scoring on an error and the other three on a home run by Valbuena.
ZULIA 11, LA GUAIRA 6 IN LA GUAIRA
Zulia: Jose Pirela (Yankees) was 3-for-5 with a grand slam (his third homer), scoring twice and driving in five. Ernesto Mejia (Atlanta) was 3-for-6 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Freddy Galvis (Philadelphia) was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs.
La Guaira: Alex Cabera was 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run (his thirteenth), driving in three. Jamie Romak was 2-for-3 with two walks and a triple, scoring once. Abel Nieves was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.
The game: Pirela hit a grand slam in the third inning to give Zulia a 4-0 lead. They led all the way, but La Guaira kept battling back, cutting the lead to 4-3 after four and 6-5 after five. Mejia doubled in a run in the seventh, an error led to two runs in the eighth, and Zulia added two more in the ninth.