Willians Astudillo goes deep. We missed that the Puerto Rican League started January 5--we've added the results of those games to that day's report.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Twins: Gregorio Petit (Caracas) was 0-for-3. Willians Astudillo (Anzoategui) was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.
LARA 5, ZULIA 2 IN ZULIA
Rangel Ravelo's two-run single in the seventh broke a 2-2 tie. Henry Urrutia was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk. Ildemaro Vargas was 3-for-4 with a walk. Nestor Molina pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk and striking out four. For Zulia, Hector Gimenez was 3-for-5 with a home run.
Lara leads the series 3-1.
CARACAS 7, ARAGUA 1 IN ARAGUA
Anzoategui scored four in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Trayvon Robinson was 3-for-5 with two doubles. Felix Perez was 3-for-5. Cory Riordan pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out two.
Caracas leads the series 3-1.
ANZOATEGUI 9, MAGALLANES 8 IN ANZOATEGUI
Magallanes led 8-2 after six. Anzoategui scored three in the seventh and four in the ninth to win. Luis Jimenez hit a three-run walkoff homer with two out in the ninth. Jimenez was 2-for-4 and the home run was his second of the playoffs. Rafael Ortega hit a three-run homer. Willians Astudillo hit a two-run homer. For Magallanes, Jesus Valdez was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk and drove in four. Ronny Cedeno was 1-for-2 with a double and three walks.
Anzoategui leads the series 3-1.
MEXICAN LEAGUE
CULIACAN 5, JALISCO 4 IN JALISCO
Culiacan scored three in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. It stayed 5-1 until the ninth, when Jalisco scored three and had the tying run on base with one out, but a double play ended the game. Ali Solis hit a three-run homer for Culiacan. Anthony Vasquez pitched eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three. For Jalisco, Japhet Amador was 2-for-4 with a home run.
Culiacan leads the series 3-2.
MAZATLAN 5, MEXICALI 3 IN MAZATLAN
Mazatlan trailed 3-2 when Brian Hernandez hit a three-run homer in the seventh to put them in the lead to stay. Hernandez was 2-for-4. Aneury Tavarez was 3-for-3. Carlos Munoz was 0-for-1 with three walks. Roy Merritt pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks and striking out three. For Mazatlan, Javier Solano pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out five.
Mexicali leads the series 3-2.
NAVOJOA 4, HERMOSILLO 3 IN HERMOSILLO
Trailing 3-2, Jesus Castillo hit a two-run double in the seventh to give Navojoa the lead to stay. Randy Arozarena was 4-for-4 with a double and a walk. Castillo was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, driving in three. Eddie Gamboa pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two unearned runs on four hits and a walk and striking out one. For Hermosillo, Barry Enright pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.
Navojoa wins the series 4-1.
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
LICEY 7, GIGANTES 1 IN LICEY
Licey scored in five of their eight innings, building a 7-0 lead before the Gigantes got on the board in the ninth. Donovan Solano was 3-for-5 with a double. Pedro Echemendia pitched six shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out five. For the Gigantes, Garabez Rosa was 3-for-3. Kevin McGovern struck out five in 4.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks.
ESCOGIDO 4, AGULIAS 1 IN ESCOGIDO
Escogido scored three in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie. Jonathan Castellanos pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out four. For the Aguilas, Michael Roth pitched four innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and striking out one.
Licey, 7-1
Escogido, 4-4
Aguilas, 3-5
Gigantes, 2-6
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 1-for-6 with a run.
CANBERRA 12, MELBOURNE 3 IN MELBOURNE
Canberra scored six in the third to take a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Gabriel Arias was 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. Lake Bachar struck out six in six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. For Melbourne, Brett Cumberland hit a home run, his sixth, and Tyler Neslony hit a home run, his fourth.
BRISBANE 14, SYDNEY 1 IN SYDNEY
Brisbane led 2-1 through four, but they scored three in the fifth, four in the sixth, two in the seventh, and three in the eighth. Wade Dutton was 3-for-6 with a double and a home run, his sixth. Donald Lutz was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and four RBIs. Tim Atherton struck out five in four innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.
ADELAIDE 8, PERTH 6 IN ADELAIDE
Adelaide scored five in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth to build an 8-1 lead. Kuan-Jen Chen was 3-for-5. For Perth, Alex Hall was 3-for-4 with a walk.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Twins: None.
CAROLINA 2, MAYAGUEZ 0 IN MAYAGUEZ
Carolina scored single runs in the second and sixth. Giovanni Soto pitched six shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out five. For Mayaguez, Jorge Lopez struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits.
SANTURCE 6, CAGUAS 2 IN SANTURCE
Santurce took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and scored three in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Edwin Gomez was 3-for-3 with a walk. Ivan De Jesus, Jr. was 3-for-4. Adalberto Flores pitched six innings, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks and striking out five.