A good inning for Miguel Sulbaran. Aragua says, "Hail, Cesar!"
ARAGUA 7, LA GUAIRA 6 IN LA GUARIA
Twins: Oswaldo Arcia (Aragua) was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.
Aragua: Ramon Castro was 1-for-2 with a walk and a double, scoring twice and driving in one. Wilson Ramos (Washington) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs. Carlos Hernandez (Colorado) struck out two in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits but three walks.
La Guaira: Cesar Suarez was 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs. Abel Nieves was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one. C. J. Retherford was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs.
The game: A hit batsman with the bases loaded and a two-run single by Suarez put La Guaira ahead 3-0 in the first. They still led 4-2 after three but in the fourth, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly plated two for Aragua to tie the score at four. It stayed that way until the sixth, when three walks filled the bases for Aragua with none out. A sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run and Juan Infante doubled in a pair to make the score 7-4. In the bottom of the ninth, Suarez singled in two more to cut the lead to 7-6 and put runners on first and second with one out, but a fly out and a ground out ended the game.
MARGARITA 8, ZULIA 5 IN MARGARITA (GAME 1--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Zulia: Luis Ugueto was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one. Sandy Leon (Washington) was 2-for-2 with a walk and a double, scoring once. Marwin Gonzalez (Houston) was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Margarita: Breyvic Valera (St. Louis) was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Elias Diaz (Pittsburgh) was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Carlos Monasterios pitched six innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
The game: Margarita scored six times in the second inning to take control of the game early. Valera singled in one, Diaz doubled in two, Edgar Duran (Philadelphia) tripled in two more, and Wilmer Flores (Mets) capped the inning, with an RBI double. Margarita still led 8-2 after six. Zulia scored three times in the seventh and brought the tying run up to bat with two out, but a fly ball ended the game.
ZULIA 8, MARGARITA 1 IN MARGARITA (GAME 2--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Twins: Miguel Sulbaran (Zulia) pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Zulia: Ernesto Mejia (Atlanta) was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth. Jose Pirela (Yankees) was 1-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs. Wilfredo Boscan pitched three innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Margarita: David Peralta (Arizona) was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Sosa (Pittsburgh) was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.
The game: Zulia scored five in the first to put this one away early. The first run scored on a ground out, the next three on Mejia's three-run homer, and the fifth on an RBI triple by Jose Flores. Margarita got its lone run in the bottom of the first and had the bases loaded with none out, but could not get the ball out of the infield and never threatened to get back into the game again.
LARA 11, ANZOATEGUI 3 IN ANZOATEGUI
Lara: Ericson Leonora (Yankees) was 3-for-5 with a double and a grand slam, scoring twice and driving in five. Gabriel Lino (Philadelphia) was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Jeff Farnsworth struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.
Anzoategui: Cory Aldridge was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourteenth. Luis Nunez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his third. Gorkys Hernandez (Kansas City) was 2-for-4 with a double.
The game: Paulo Orlando (Kansas City) singled in a run in the top of the first, but Nunez homered in the bottom to tie the score at one. Lara gradually took control from there, though. Lino singled in a run in the second to make it 2-1, Leonora singled in two in the third to make it 4-1, and Lara scored five in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Leonora hit a grand slam in the inning, followed by a Lino homer.