LARA 6, MARGARITA 5 IN LARA (10 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Gorkys Hernandez was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.  Ildemaro Vargas was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.  Josmar Cordero was 2-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Nestor Molina pitched four innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks and striking out four.  Yapson Gomez struck out two in two perfect innings.  Leonel Campos pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Derian Gonzalez pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  David Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second), a walk, and two RBIs.  Eguy Rosario was 2-for-5.  Henry Centeno pitched 5.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Cordero singled home a run in the eighth to tie it 3-3.  In the top of the tenth, a wild pitch scored one run and Rodriguez singled home another to make it 5-3.  In the bottom of the tenth, with two out, Lara got consecutive RBI singles by Hernandez, Deiner Lopez, and Vargas to win the game.

WP:  Gonzalez (1-0).  LP:  Alfred Gutierrez (2-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cordero is batting .414.  Vargas is batting .355.  Gabriel Moreno is batting .342.  Yordanys Linares and Carlos Rivero are each batting .333.  Yonathan Mendoza is batting .325.  Jecksson Flores is batting .318.  Jose Tabata is batting .308.

Jesus Sanchez gave up a run in one inning and has an ERA of 2.79.  Gomez has an ERA of zero.  Campos has an ERA of 2.35.

Each team used seven pitchers.

Lara stranded 12 and Margarita stranded 11.

Record:  Lara is 9-4  in first place in the West Division, two games ahead of Magallanes.

Next game:  Lara hosts Zulia tonight.