A big Cibao comeback goes for naught.  Francisco opens a golden gate to lead Licey to the finals.

LICEY 9, CIBAO 8 IN CIBAO

Twins:  Dan Rohlfing (Licey) was used on defense but did not bat.

Licey:  Juan Francisco (Milwaukee) was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) and two runs.  Felix Perez (Cincinnati) was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Anderson Hernandez was 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one.

Cibao:  Leury Garcia (White Sox) was 3-for-4 with a walk and a double, scoring three times.  Francisco Peguero (Baltimore) was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.  Ray Olmedo (Tampa Bay) was 2-for-2 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  Erick Aybar (Angels) singled in one, a ground out singled in another, and Perez singled in a third to give Licey a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  Licey led 4-1 after two.  Peguero's two-run single in the fifth cut the lead to 4-3, but Licey came back with three in the top of the sixth, getting an RBI single by Hernandez and a two-run single-and-error by Eugenio Velez (Milwaukee), to take a 7-3.  In the bottom of the seventh, Cibao got its first lead of the game with a five-run inning.  An error scored the first run, a fielder's choice scored the second, Olmedo had a two-run double to tie it, and a sacrifice fly made it 8-7 Cibao.  Licey opened the eighth with doubles by Ronnier Mustelier and Perez to tie it at eight.  The first two Licey batters in the ninth struck out, but Francisco hit a home run to give Licey a 9-8 lead.  Cibao went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

PLAYOFF UPDATE

Licey moves on to play Escogido in the championship.