Winter League Playoffs: Games of January 25

We've crowned a champion in the Dominican League!

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE

ANZOATEGUI 8, MAGALLANES 5 IN ANZOATEGUI

Magallanes:  Endy Chavez was 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.  Henry Alejandro Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Keivi Rojas pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk with one strikeout.

Anzoategui:  Gorkys Hernandez (Pittsburgh) was 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks, scoring twice.  Alexi Amarista (San Diego) was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Alfredo Aceves struck out three in a scoreless inning, allowing one hit.

The game:  In the third, Anzoategui got solo homers from Hernandez and Ehire Adrianza (San Francisco) and a two-run homer by Felix Perez (Cincinnati) to go ahead 4-0.  Magallanes battled back to tie it 4-4 in the top of the sixth, Niuman Romero's (Oakland) RBI single in the bottom of the sixth put Anzoategui back up 5-4.  Anzoategui added a run in the seventh and a two-run homer by Balbino Fuenmayor (Kansas City) in the eighth put the game out of reach.

Series status:  Anzoategui leads the best-of-seven series two games to none.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE

CULIACAN 3, JALISCO 1 IN CULIACAN

Jalisco:  Jose Manuel Rodriguez was 1-for-2 with two walks.  Leo Heras (Houston) was 2-for-5.  Terance Marin pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits with one strikeout.

Culiacan:  Eric Farris (Minnesota) was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Sergio Gastelum was 1-for-2 with a walk.  Salvador Valdez pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing five his and three walks with four strikeouts.

The game;  Farris hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Culiacan added a run in the fourth.  The lone Jalisco run came in the ninth.  Jalisco had the bases loaded with two out in the ninth, but Heras lined out to second to end the game.

Series status:  Culiacan leads the best-of-seven series three games to one.

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE

CIBAO 12, ORIENTE 5 IN CIBAO

Oriente: Junior Lake (Cubs) was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Elian Herrera (Milwaukee) was 2-for-4 with two runs.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Cibao:  Maikel Franco (Philadelphia) was 3-for-4 with two home runs (one a grand slam) and seven RBIs.  Carlos Peguero (Texas) was 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.  Mario Santiago pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

The game:  Cibao scored two in the first and Franco hit a grand slam in the second to put Cibao up 6-0.  The lead was 9-0 before Oriente scored and the lead was never less than six runs.

Series status:  Cibao wins the best-of-nine series five games to three.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

SANTURCE 9, MAYAGUEZ 1 IN MAYAGUEZ

Santurce:  Javier Baez (Cubs) was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Neftali Soto (Cincinnati) was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.  Ivan Maldonado pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and four walks with one strikeout.

Mayaguez:  Martin Maldonado was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Jesmuel Valentin was 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.  Kanekoa Texeira pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing a walk with one strikeout.

The game:  Ruben Gotay tripled in a run and later scored to give Santurce a 2-0 lead in the second.  It was 3-1 after six, but Soto delivered a two-run single in the seventh and Santurce added two more in the eighth and again in the ninth to take control of the game.

Series status:  Santurce leads the best-of-seven series three games to two.