Day seventeen of the playoffs. A good outing for Deolis Guerra. A nail-biter in La Guaira. A big comeback for Magallanes.
ANZOATEGUI 6, LA GUAIRA 5 IN LA GUAIRA
Twins: Eduardo Escobar (Anzoategui) was 0-for-4.
Anzoategui: Cory Aldridge was 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs. Hector Gimenez (White Sox) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run. Niuman Romero was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
La Guaira: Alex Cabrera was 3-for-3 with two walks and a double, driving in two. Heiker Meneses (Boston) was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. C. J. Retherford was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.
The game: Cabrera doubled in a run to give La Guaira a 1-0 lead in the first. Romero's two-run single put Anzoategui ahead 2-1 in the top of the second, but Meneses singled in a run in the bottom of the second to tie it at two. Gimenez homered in the fourth to put Anzoategui ahead 3-2 and Aldridge singled in a run in the fifth to make it 4-2, but Meneses hit a two-run homer in the sixth to tie it up again 4-4. A two-out balk in the seventh put Anzoategui ahead 5-4. Aldridge singled in another run in the ninth to make it 6-4. Cabrera's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth cut the lead to 6-5 and put men on first and second with two out, but a ground out ended the game.
MAGALLANES 11, ZULIA 6 IN MAGALLANES
Twins: Oswaldo Arcia (Zulia) was 1-for-4 with a run. Deolis Guerra (Magallanes) struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks.
Zulia: Jose Flores was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Ernesto Mejia (Atlanta) was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run. Yeiper Castillo (Angels) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Magallanes: Mario Lisson (San Francisco) was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his seventh and eighth), scoring three times and driving in three. Juan Rivera was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Carlos Monasterios pitched 3.2 innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
The game: Six singles, a walk, and two errors led to a six-run second inning for Zulia, putting them ahead 6-0. Lisson led off the fourth with a home run to make it 6-1 and five singles and two errors later in the inning cut the lead to 6-4. Magallanes took the lead in the fifth. Rivera doubled in one run, Robinson Chirinos (Texas) put Magallanes ahead with a two-run single, and Ronny Cedeno and Alberto Callaspo (Oakland) contributed RBI singles to make it 9-6. Lisson added a two-run homer in the ninth.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS
Magallanes, 9-5
Caracas, 8-5
Anzoategui, 8-6
La Guaira, 5-9
Zulia, 4-9