Day seventeen of the playoffs. A big inning carries Aguilas. Cibao scores a lot early and hangs on.
AGUILAS 4, ESCOGIDO 2 IN AGUILAS
Twins: Aderlin Mejia (Escogido) was 0-for-1. Deibinson Romero (Escogido) was 0-for-4.
Escogido: Julio Lugo was 2-for-4 with a run. Ramon Santiago was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Enosil Tejeda (Cleveland) pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Aguilas: Jose Manuel Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Zoilo Almonte (Yankees) was 2-for-4 with a run. Angel Castro (St. Louis) pitched six innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
The game: There was no scoring until the fourth, when a walk, a single, two errors, and a sacrifice fly plated two runs for Escogido. It stayed 2-0 until the sixth, when Aguilas got all four of their runs. The first two batters went out. Then came a walk, a single, an RBI single by Rodriguez, a run-scoring passed ball to tie it, an RBI single by Alex Valdez to put Aguilas ahead, and a double steal of second and home to provide an insurance run. Escogido did not get a man past first base the rest of the game.
CIBAO 9, LICEY 6 IN LICEY
Twins: Dan Rohlfing (Licey) was 1-for-2.
Cibao: Hector Gomez (Milwaukee) was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourth) and two runs. Mayo Acosta (Tampa Bay) was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and two runs. Zack Segovia pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Licey: Engel Beltre (Texas) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once. Felix Perez (Cincinnati) was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second. Juan Sosa (Miami) struck out three in three innings, allowing one run on two hits and no walks.
The game: Cibao got a three-run homer from Gomez in the second and scored five more in the third, three scoring on an Acosta homer, to give Cibao an 8-0 lead. Licey got three in the bottom of the third, two scoring on an Erick Aybar (Angels) single, to cut the lead to 8-3. It was 9-5 Cibao after six. In the seventh, a walk, two singles, and another walk made the score 9-6 and loaded the bases with one out, but a line drive double play ended the inning. Licey did not get a man on base the rest of the game.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS
Escogido, 11-6
Cibao, 8-9
Licey, 8-9
Aguilas, 7-10