Day sixteen of the playoffs. A pitchers' duel in Escogido. Big innings in Cibao.
ESCOGIDO 2, AGUILAS 0 IN ESCOGIDO
Aguilas: Juan Perez (San Francisco) was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Carlos Martinez (St. Louis) pitched seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
Escogido: Jason Rogers (Milwaukee) was 2-for-3 with a run. Edward Valdez struck out eight in six innings, allowing two hits and no walks.
The game: There was no score through seven, and really not much even for threats. In the bottom of the eighth, however, a walk, a single, and a bunt put men on second and third with one out and a single-and-error by Eury Perez (Washington) brought them both home. Aguilas got the tying run to bat with one out in the ninth but could not score.
LICEY 6, CIBAO 4 IN CIBAO
Twins: Dan Rohlfing (Licey) was 1-for-4.
Licey: Felix Perez (Cincinnati) was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer. Ronnier Mustelier was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one. Guillermo Mota pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks with one strikeout.
Cibao: Josh Whitesell was 2-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Mayo Acosta (Tampa Bay) was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Walter Silva pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks with two strikeouts.
The game: There was no scoring in the first. Each team scored once in the second. In the third, the first two Cibao batters fanned, but Francisco Peguero (Baltimore) singled, stole second, and scored on a Marcell Ozuna (Miami) single. Whitesell then tripled to score Ozuna and an error scored Whitesell to make it 4-1 Cibao. It stayed 4-1 until the fifth, when Licey scored five times to take a 6-4 lead. Mustelier singled in one, Perez hit a three-run homer to put Licey in front, and Anderson Hernandez doubled and scored on an error to make it 6-4. Cibao put men on first and second with two out in the eighth and loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, but could not get the ball out of the infield.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS
Escogido, 11-5
Licey, 8-8
Cibao, 7-9
Aguilas, 6-10