ESCOGIDO 3, GIGANTES 1 AT ESCOGIDO
Batting star: Ronald Guzman was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
Pitching stars: Dustin Crenshaw struck out six in five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk. Raynel Espinal pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Marcos Molina pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Joe Dunand was 2-for-3 with a double. Denyi Reyes pitched four shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.
The game: Escogido scored three in the first and that was all they needed. Chas McCormick singled, stole second, and scored on a Cesar Puello single. An error and a walk loaded the bases. With one out, Julio Y. Rodriguez had an RBI single and Dunand hit a sacrifice fly, making it 3-0 Escogido.
The Gigantes had a man on second with one out in the first, a man on third with one out in the second, and a man on second with one out in the sixth, but did not score. They finally got on the board in the ninth. Guzman and Rafael Lantigua started the inning with singles, bringing the tying run to the plate. A ground out and a sacrifice fly brought home one run, but they also made two outs, and a strikeout ended the game.
WP: Franklyn Kilome (1-0). LP: Crenshaw (0-1). S: Steven Wilson (1).
Notes: Lantigua is batting 1.000. Abiatal Avelino was 0-for-3 and is batting .417. Guzman is batting .375. Carlos Peguero is batting .333.
Espinal has an ERA of zero. Randy Rosario pitched a third of an inning without giving up a run and has an ERA of zero. Yunior Marte retired both men he faced and has an ERA of zero.
Gigantes manager Luis Urueta was ejected in the seventh inning. He was thrown out by the first base umpire following a walk. I don't know what the call was that prompted him to get tossed.
The Gigantes were 0-for-8 with men in scoring position. Escogido was not that much better at 2-for-11.
Record: The Gigantes are 2-2, tied for fourth with Escogido. The Toros del Este remain in first place, but are still just 1-0 due to rainouts.
Next game: Following an off day, the Gigantes host Licey on Friday.