An eighth-inning rally carries Caracas.  Strong pitching by Casey Lawrence wins it for Margarita.

CARACAS 4, LARA 2 IN LARA

Caracas:  Felix Perez (Cincinnati) was 4-for-5 with a triple and two runs.  Blake Gailen was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk.  Boone Whiting (St. Louis) pitched 4.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and six walks with one strikeout.

Lara:  Cesar Izturis (Houston) was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Paulo Orlando (Kansas City) was 0-for-1 with three walks.  Romulo Sanchez pitched four innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks with no strikeouts.

The game:  Caracas broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run eighth.  Jesus Aguilar (Cleveland) had a two-run triple-plus-error and Gailen homered in the inning.

MARGARITA 5, ARAGUA 0 IN MARGARITA

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar was 0-for-4 for Aragua.

Aragua:  Willson Contreras (Cubs) was 2-for-3.  Hector Gimenez (Milwaukee) was 2-for-4.  Manny Martinez (Philadelphia) pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Margarita:  David Peralta (Arizona) was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.  Taylor Motter (Tampa Bay) was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and two runs.  Casey Lawrence (Toronto) pitched seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

The game:  Peralta hit a two-run homer in the first to make it 2-0 and Motter hit a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 5-0.  Aragua only once got a man to second base, in the eighth.

NEXT DAY'S GAMES

Anzoategui at Lara

Caracas at Zulia

Magallanes at La Guaira

Aragua at Margarita