Mexico Zelously pursues victory.  Ramon Hernandez leads Venezuela.

MEXICO 6, PUERTO RICO 3 (HOME TEAM:  PUERTO RICO)

Twins:  Eddie Rosario (Puerto Rico) was 0-for-3.  Kennys Vargas (Puerto Rico) was 1-for-4.  Daniel Ortiz (Puerto Rico) was 0-for-3.

Mexico:  Zelous Wheeler (Yankees) was 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Carlos Alberto Gastelum was 2-for-3 with two walks and a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Juan Delgadillo pitched seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

Puerto Rico:  Jeff Dominguez was 1-for-3 with a double.  Ramon Castro was 1-for-1 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Logan Williamson pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and five walks with one strikeout.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fifth.  With one out for Mexico, Gil Velazquez singled and scored on a Chris Roberson triple.  Gastelum then doubled to make it 2-0 and with two out, Wheeler hit a two-run homer to make the score 4-0.  There was no more scoring until the ninth, when with two out Jose Aguilar doubled and Wheeler hit another two-run homer to increase the lead to 6-0.  Puerto Rico came up with three runs in the bottom of the ninth but did not get the tying run up to bat.

VENEZUELA 8, CUBA 5 (HOME TEAM:  VENEZUELA)

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar (Venezuela) was 2-for-4 with two runs.

Cuba:  Yuniet Flores was 3-for-5 with a run.  Yunieski Gurriel was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.  Ariel Borrero was 2-for-4 with a double.

Venezuela:  Endy Chavez (Seattle) was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer.  Ramon Hernandez (Kansas City) was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.  Alberto Callaspo (Oakland) was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.

The game:  Each team scored once in the second.  In the third, Venezuela opened the inning with a pair of singles.  A two-out walk loaded the bases.  Hernandez singled in two and Ezequiel Carrera (Detroit) singled in one to give Venezuela a 4-1 lead.  In the fourth, Escobar singled and Chavez hit a two-run homer to make it 6-1.  It looked good for Venezuela, but Cuba got back into the game with four runs in the fifth.  Yordan Manduley tripled in two. Gurriel doubled in one, and the fourth run scored on a ground out.  It stayed 6-5 until the eighth, when Lew Ford doubled and Callaspo singled.  A sacrifice fly made it 7-5 Hernandez singled in another run to make it 8-5.  Cuba did not get the tying run up to bat in the ninth.

SERIES STANDINGS

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