Day eight of the playoffs.  A pair of back-and-forth games.  Rene Rivera comes up big for Ponce.

MAYAGUEZ 5, CAROLINA 4 IN MAYAGUEZ

Twins:  Eddie Rosario (Mayaguez) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Kennys Vargas (Mayaguez) was 1-for-4.  Daniel Ortiz (Mayaguez) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Carolina:  Jesus Feliciano was 4-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.  Ruben Gotay (Cincinnati) was 2-for-5 with an RBI.  Bobby Bramhall pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks.

Mayaguez:  Randy Ruiz was 3-for-4 with an RBI.  Luis Montanez was 2-for-3 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one.  Ryan Tatusko pitched four innings, allowing one run on five hits and one walk with one strikeout.

The game:  Carolina got on the board in the third on Gotay's RBI single.  Mayaguez took the lead in the fifth on a run-scoring double by Montanez and a two-run single by Dee Gordon.  Carolina went back in front 4-3 in the top of the eighth on a two-run single by Feliciano and a run-scoring single by Enrique Hernandez (Houston).  Mayaguez went into the lead to stay in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Ruiz and Luis Figueroa.  Carolina went down in order in the ninth.

PONCE 8, CAGUAS 5 IN PONCE

Caguas:  Miguel Abreu was 3-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring twice.  Johnny Monell (Baltimore) was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Derek Blacksher struck out three in 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up five hits and no walks.

Ponce:  Ivan De Jesus (Baltimore) was 3-for-4 with a walk, a double, and a three-run homer, scoring twice.  Rene Rivera (San Diego) was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Pete Parise pitched five innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and no walks.

The game:  Caguas scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first.  Ponce came back with three in the bottom of the first, two on a Jeff Dominguez double and one on Rivera's single.  Monell homered in the second to cut the lead to 3-2.  It remained 3-2 until the sixth, when Abreu doubled and scored on an error to tie it up.  Ponce took the lead back in the seventh on a two-run double by Rivera and scored three in the eighth on De Jesus' three-run homer to take a commanding lead.  Caguas came back with to in the ninth but did not put the tying run on base.

PLAYOFF STANDINGS

Mayaguez, 7-1
Caguas, 4-4
Ponce, 4-4
Carolina, 1-7