Puerto Rican Publication: Games of 1/15

Day ten of the playoffs.  Ex-Twin Aaron Bates comes through for Caguas.  Ex-Twin Rene Rivera gets a big hit for Ponce.

CAGUAS 4, MAYAGUEZ 3 IN MAYAGUEZ (10 INNINGS)

Twins:  Eddie Rosario (Mayaguez) was 1-for-5.  Kennys Vargas (Mayaguez) was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Daniel Ortiz (Mayaguez) was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Caguas:  Rey Navarro (Cincinnati) was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Andy Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Andres Santiago pitched (Dodgers) two shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks with one strikeout.

Mayaguez:  Luis Montanez was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once.  Irving Falu (Milwaukee) was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Dee Gordon (Dodgers) was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Navarro homered in the first and another run scored on an error to put Caguas up 2-0.  A sacrifice fly put Mayaguez on the board in the bottom of the first, but Caguas got the run back in the third on a single-and-error by Miguel Abreu.  Mayaguez tied it in the fifth when two walks and a single loaded the bases with none out, Falu singled in one, and a double play scored another.  There was no more scoring until the tenth, when Abreu was hit by a pitch, was bunted to second, and scored on a single by Aaron Bates.  Mayaguez went down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

PONCE 7, CAROLINA 2 IN CAROLINA

Ponce:  Jonathan Mota (Cubs) was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in one.  Jeff Dominguez was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once.  Joel Piniero pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Carolina:  Jose Castro was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.  Gaby Hernandez struck out five in 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks.

The game:  Castro tripled and scored on a Rene Garcia (Houston) single to put Carolina ahead 1-0 in the second.  In the fifth, Dominguez and Mota opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to tie the score and Mota scored on a pair of productive outs to give Ponce a 2-1 lead.  Carolina tied it in the seventh on an RBI single by Carlos Corporan (Houston).  Ponce then put the game out of reach with five in the ninth.  Rene Rivera (San Diego) singled in two, Benji Gonzalez (Pittsburgh) followed with an RBI single, and a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly finished off the scoring.

PLAYOFF STANDINGS

Mayaguez, 7-3
Caguas, 6-4
Ponce, 5-5
Carolina, 2-8