Not much contribution from Twins players. All the excitement came early in Licey.
ESCOGIDO 4, LICEY 2 IN LICEY
Twins: Jorge Polanco (Escogido) was 0-for-4.
Escogido: Erik Gonzalez (Cleveland) was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Brett Tomko (remember him?) struck out five in five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk.
Licey: Engel Beltre (Texas) was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Anderson Hernandez was 2-for-3 with a walk. Emilio Bonifacio (Kansas City) was 2-for-4 with a run.
The game: An infield out and a Juan Francisco (Milwaukee) single scored two in the first for Licey. In the second, Gonzalez hit a two-out bases-loaded double to give Escogido a 3-2 lead. Escogido added one in the third on a double play. And that was it for the scoring. Licey put runners on the corners with two out in the fourth and with two out in the ninth.
ORIENTE 8, ESTE 5 IN ORIENTE
Twins: Chris Colabello (Este) was 0-for-4 with an RBI.
Este: Esteban German was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run. Joey Terdoslavich was 2-for-4 with two runs. Jason Rogers (Milwaukee) was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.
Oriente: Alex Valdez was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and three RBIs. Alfredo Marte (Arizona) was 3-for-4 with a walk and two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two. Victor Moreno struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk.
The game: In the first, Marte hit a two-run double and Valdez followed with a two-run homer to make it 4-0. It was 7-1 after five, but Este came back with a four-run sixth to get back into the game. Two bases-loaded walks and a two-run single by Mayo Acosta (Tampa Bay) produced the runs. They stranded the tying run on first, however, and never got as close again. Oriente added an insurance run on an Alberto Rosario (Dodgers) RBI single in the seventh.
CIBAO 7, AGUILAS 1 IN CIBAO
Aguilas: Francisco Pena (Kansas City) was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rafael Ynoa (Colorado) was 2-for-3 with a walk. Jermaine Curtis (St. Louis) was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Cibao: Juan Silverio (Cincinnati) was 1-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. Francisco Peguero (Baltimore) was 3-for-3 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one. Zach Kroenke pitched five innings, allowing one run on six hits and two walks.
The game: Pena singled in a run in the top of the second to give Aguilas the lead. That was as good as it got for them. Peguero doubled in a run in the bottom of the second to tie the score and an RBI grounder later in the inning gave Cibao the lead. Silverio's two-run homer in the fourth made it 4-1 and Cibao added single runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth.