Day five of the playoffs.  Eduardo Escobar leads Anzoategui to victory.  Lots of extra-base hits in Caracas.

ANZOATEGUI 6, ZULIA 4 IN ZULIA

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar (Anzoategui) was 3-for-4 with a walk and a home run (his second), driving in three.

Anzoategui:  Alexi Amarista (San Diego) was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Gorkys Hernandez (Kansas City) was 3-for-5 with a double and a run.  Jose Castillo was 2-for-5 with a run.

Zulia:  Ernesto Mejia (Atlanta) was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Ender Inciarte (Arizona) was 3-for-5 with a double and a run.  J. C. Linares (Boston) was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Castillo's single-and-error produced the first run of the game in the first inning for Anzoategui.  It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Escobar hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  Zulia came back in the bottom of the sixth, getting a two-run single from Mejia and a run-scoring double by Sandy Leon (Washington) to tie the score.  An error put Zulia ahead 4-3 in the seventh.  In the eighth, Escobar singled in the tying run and an error put Anzoategui ahead 5-4.  A wild pitch brought home an insurance run in the ninth.  Zulia had the go-ahead run on base in the eighth and the tying run on in the ninth but could do nothing with them.

MAGALLANES 12, CARACAS 6 IN MAGALLANES

Caracas:  Bobby Abreu was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer (his fourth) and two runs.  Alex Romero was 1-for-3 with two walks and a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Yangervis Solarte was 2-for-5 with a run.

Magallanes:  Adonis Garcia (Yankees) was 3-for-5 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in three.  Ronny Cedeno was 2-for-3 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in four.  Dustin Richardson pitched three shutout innings, allowing no hits and one walk with two strikeouts.

The game:  Magallanes got an RBI double from Ramon Hernandez and a two-run double from Cedeno to go up 3-0 in the second.  Romero's two-run double in the third cut the lead to 3-2, but Magallanes came roaring back with five in the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by Juan Rivera, to go ahead 8-2.  Caracas again tried to come back, getting a three-run homer of its own by Abreu in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-5, but Garcia hit a two-run homer in the sixth and three doubles produced two runs in the seventh to make the score 12-5 and put it out of reach.

PLAYOFF STANDINGS

Anzoategui, 4-0
Magallanes, 3-1
Caracas, 1-3
La Guaira, 1-3
Zulia, 1-3