Dominican Digest: Games of 12/2

Danny Santana and Jorge Polanco come through.  Close games all around.

AGUILAS 5, ESTE 3 IN ESTE

Twins:  Danny Santana (Aguilas) was 2-for-5 with a double.  Chris Colabello (Este) was 0-for-4.

Aguilas:  Juan Perez (San Francisco) was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Rafael Ynoa (Colorado) was 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI.  Joaquin Arias (San Francisco) was 2-for-4 with two runs.

Este:  Angelys Nina (Colorado) was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Hector Gomez (Milwaukee) was 2-for-4 with a run.  Elih Villanueva (Miami) pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

The game:  Este got single runs in the first and second to take an early 2-0 lead.  Aguilas tied it in the fifth on a homer by Alexis Gomez and an RBI triple by Ynoa.  Este got a sacrifice fly in the sixth to go ahead 3-2.  Perez doubled in a run in the seventh to tie it, Gomez hit a sacrifice fly in the eight to give Aguilas the lead, and Perez singled in an insurance run in the ninth.  Este loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the ninth.

ORIENTE 7, ESCOGIDO 5 IN ESCOGIDO

Twins:  Jorge Polanco (Escogido) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a run.  Pedro Florimon (Escogido) was 0-for-5.

Oriente:  Elian Herrera (Milwaukee) was 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in three.  Josh Whitesell was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Alberto Rosario (Dodgers) was 2-for-4 with a run.

Escogido:  C. J. Cron (Angels) was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in three.  Fernando Martinez was 2-for-3 with an RBI.  Erik Gonzalez (Cleveland) was 2-for-4.

The game:  Cron's two-run single capped a three-run first that put Escogido ahead 3-1.  It stayed that way in the fourth, when Whitesell and Audy Ciriaco started the inning with back-to-back homers to tie the score.  Neither home run killed the rally, because a walk and two singles loaded the bases, then Herrera hit a three-run triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 Oriente.  Escogido got two in the fifth.  They loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and had men on first and third with two out in the ninth, but could not score again.

LICEY 2, CIBAO 0 IN CIBAO

Licey:  Yamaico Navarro (Yankees) was 3-for-4 with a run.  Bryan Holaday (Detroit) was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.  Francisco Rosario struck out three in three innings, giving up three hits and no walks.

Cibao:   Marcell Ozuna (Miami) was 2-for-4.  Rudy Owens (Houston) struck out eight in 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks.

The game:  Both runs scored in the second.  Navarro singled, went to third on an Anderson Hernandez single, and scored on a ground out.  Holaday doubled to bring home Anderson.  The best scoring chance for Cibao came in the third, when Ronny Paulino (Pittsburgh) was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single.