Venezuela remains unbeaten.  Cuba remains winless.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 9, CUBA 2 (HOME TEAM:  CUBA)

Dominican Republic:  Emilio Bonifacio (Kansas City) was 2-for-2 with three walks, scoring twice and driving in two.  Julio Lugo was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer.  Jon Leicester pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and one walk with two strikeouts.

Cuba:  Ramon Lunar was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Daniel Castro was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Jonder Martinez struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk.

The game:  Two singles and two walks put the Dominican Republic up 1-0 in the first inning.  The Dominican Republic scored two more in the second, getting an RBI single from Hector Gomez (Milwaukee) and scoring one on an error.  In the third, Bonifacio singled and scored on a Eugenio Velez (Milwaukee) double to make it 4-0, and in the fourth RBI singles by Ronny Paulino (Detroit) and Bonifacio increased the lead to 6-0.  Cuba did not get back into the game after that.

VENEZUELA 6, MEXICO 3  (HOME TEAM:  MEXICO)

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar (Venezuela) was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

Venezuela:  Ezequiel Carrera (Detroit) was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Ramon Hernandez (Kansas City) was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.

Mexico:  Jon Weber was 1-for-3 with a walk and a triple, scoring once.  Carlos Alberto Gastelum was 1-for-2 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Bryan Evans (Miami) struck out four in four shutout innings of relief, allowing two hits and no walks.

The game:  In the first, Carrera singled, stole second, stole third, and scored on a ground out to put Venezuela ahead 1-0.  In the second, three singles, an error, and a double plated three runs to make the score 4-0.  Mexico got back into the game in the fourth, loading the bases on three walks and scoring on a sacrifice fly and a ground out to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the sixth, Chris Roberson reached on a single-and-error, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-3.  With two out and none on in the eighth, Cory Aldridge was hit by a pitch and Hernandez homered to build the lead back up to 6-3.  Mexico put men on second and third with two out in the ninth but could do no more.

SERIES STANDINGS

Venezuela, 2-0
Mexico, 2-1
Dominican Republic, 1-1
Puerto Rico, 1-1
Cuba, 0-3

TODAY'S MATCHUPS

Puerto Rico v. Cuba
Dominican Republic v. Venezuela