Dominican Digest: Games of 12/28

The second day of the playoffs.  A late homer by Ozuna carries Cibao.  Escogido takes care of things early.

CIBAO 4, LICEY 2 IN LICEY

Twins:  Dan Rohlfing (Licey) was used on defense but did not bat.

Cibao:  Marcell Ozuna (Miami) was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Moises Sierra (Toronto) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Jose DePaula (San Francisco) struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up no hits and one walk.

Licey:  Juan Francisco (Milwaukee) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run homer.  Erick Aybar (Angels) was 1-for-4 with a run.  Yunesky Maya struck out eight in 6.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and no walks.

The game:  Sierra's RBI single put Cibao on the board in the first inning.  It stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Ozuna hit a two-run homer.  A double play brought home a fourth run for Cibao in the ninth.  Licey scored twice in the ninth on Francisco's two-run homer, but they did not get the tying run up to bat.

ESCOGIDO 6, AGUILAS 1 IN AGUILAS

Twins:  Jorge Polanco (Escogido) was 1-for-5.  Pedro Florimon (Escogido) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Escogido:  Alfredo Marte (Arizona) was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Gregory Polanco (Pittsburgh) was 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI.  Joel Carreno (Mets) struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and no walks.

Aguilas:  Joey Terdoslavich (Atlanta) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once.  Audry Perez (St. Louis) was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Anthony Fernandez (Seattle) struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk.

The game:  All the scoring came in the first three innings.  Escogido jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first when Marte doubled in one and two more scored on an error.  It went to 5-0 in the second on an RBI single by Gregory Polanco and a run-scoring ground out.  Perez' RBI single got Aguilas on the board in the bottom of the second, but Wilkin Castillo drove in a run with a single in the third to make it 6-1.  And that was it.  Aguilas got a man to third base with two out in the fifth, eighth, and ninth, but could not get the clutch hit to drive in a run.

PLAYOFF STANDINGS

Cibao 2-0
Escogido 1-1
Licey 1-1
Aguilas 0-2