Winter Wonderland: Games of December 22

MAZATLAN, GAME 51

OBREGON 9, MAZATLAN 2 AT OBREGON

Batting star:  Edson Garcia was 2-for-3 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Ignacio Marrujo pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up four hits and a walk.  Fernando Burgueno pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Martin Carrasco pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out one.  Carlos Sepulveda was 4-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Sebastian Valle was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Jesus Valdez was 3-for-4.  Alejandro Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Marco Guzman was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two runs.  Issmael Salas was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and four RBIs.

The game:  It got late early, as Obregon scored seven runs in the first two innings to take a 7-0 lead.

WP:  Carrasco (1-1).  LP:  Francisco Rios (6-3).  S:  None.

Stats:  Isaac Paredes was 0-for-3 and is batting .379.  Burgueno's ERA is 1.64.

Record:  Mazatlan is 25-26, in eighth place in the Mexican League, nine games behind Obregon.  They are a half game behind seventh-place Mexicali.

Next game:  Mazatlan is again at Obregon tonight.

GIGANTES, GAMES 18 AND 19

GIGANTES 9, ESTRELLAS 8 AT GIGANTES (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Kelvin Gutierrez was 3-for-3 with a home run (his second), a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Ronald Guzman was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and two runs.  Jose Siri was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third), a double, and a walk.  Abiatal Avelino was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jesus Reyes struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Chris Smith and Ryan Kussmaul each pitched a perfect inning and each struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Ex-Twin Lewin Diaz was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs.  Eric Filia was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jeremy Pena was 2-for-5 with two runs.

The game:  Estrellas had leads of 3-0, 7-3, and 8-5.  The Gigantes scored two in the fifth to make it 8-7 and won it with two in the seventh.  Gutierrez' homer tied it 8-8 and Oniel Cruz scored from first on Siri's double to win it.

WP:  Kussmaul (3-2).  LP:  Matt Pobereyko (0-1).  S:  None.

ESTRELLAS 5, GIGANTES 4 AT GIGANTES (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Logan Moore was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second), a double, and two RBIs.  Kelvin Gutierrez was 2-for-3.  Ronald Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Miguel Del Poza retired all four men he faced, striking out one.  Jose Cisnero and ex-Twin Fernando Romero each pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Jeremy Pena was 4-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.  Radhames Liz pitched four shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out three.  Ramon Santos struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two walks.

The game:  Estrellas scored three in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie.  Pena had a two-run single in the inning.  The Gigantes scored two in the bottom of the sixth and had the bases loaded with one out, but a double play ended the inning.  They went down in order in the seventh.

WP:  Franco Terrero (1-0).  LP:  Domingo Tapia (0-1).  S:  Santos (1).

Stats:  Gutierrez is batting .388.  Guzman is batting .361.  Moore is batting .333.  Del Pozo, Tapia, and Romero each has an ERA of zero.  Tapia gave up the three runs in the sixth, but all were unearned.

Record:  The Gigantes are 15-14, tied for third in the Dominican League with Estrellas, one game behind Este.

Next game:  The Gigantes are at Este tonight.

LARA, GAME 24

LARA 8, CARIBES 6 AT CARIBES (10 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Gorkys Hernandez was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his third and fourth), three runs, and four RBIs.  Osman Marval was 2-for-5 with a double.  Yonathan Mendoza was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Yapson Gomez retired all four men he faced.  Vicente Campos and Pedro Rodriguez each pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Andruw Monastario was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Niuman Romero was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Minnesota Twin Willians Astudillo was 2-for-5.  Luis Sardinas was 2-for-5.  Andres Machado pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out two.

The game:  Lara scored two in the ninth to tie it 5-5.  They then scored three in the tenth, with Hernandez hitting a two-run homer in the inning.  Caribes loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the tenth, but a double play took them out of the inning.

WP:  Rodriguez (1-1).  LP:  Henry Martinez (1-1).  S:  Ricardo Gomez (2).

Stats:  Monasterio is batting .375.  Astudillo is batting .347.  Sardinas is batting .346.  Romero is batting .333.  Tomas Telis was 0-for-3 and is batting .309.  Rafael Ortega was 1-for-5 and is batting .300.  Gomez has an ERA of zero.  Campos' ERA is 1.13.  Gomez gave up an unearned run in one inning and has an ERA of 1.00.

Record:  Lara is 15-9, in first place in the Venezuelan League West, 1.5 games ahead of Margarita.

MAYAGUEZ, GAME 13

MAYAGUEZ 2, RA12 0 AT RA12

Batting stars:  None.  Mayaguez had just two hits.

Pitching stars:  Luis Medina struck out ten in 4.2 innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Nick Travieso pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.  Nefi Ogando, Jacob Condra-Bogan, and Nicholas Padilla each pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Juan Aponte pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks and striking out three.  Henry Nunez pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and two walks.

The game:  Mayaguez scored in the fourth on a walk, a wild pitch, and an error.  They scored in the fifth on a walk, a wild pitch, a ground out, and a sacrifice fly.  RA12 had just one hit, a one-out single by Roby Enriquez in the second inning.

WP:  Travieso (3-0).  LP:  Aponte (0-1).  S:  Padilla (3).

Stats:  Henry Ramos was 0-for-3 and is batting .364.  Ex-Twin Danny Oritz was 0-for-3 and is batting .304.  Medina, Travieso, Condra-Bogan, and Padilla each has an ERA of zero.  Ogando's ERA is 1.50.

Record:  Mayaguez is 10-3, in second place in the Puerto Rican League, two games behind Caguas.

Next game:  Mayaguez is at RA12 again tonight.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne did not play.  They remain 1-1, tied for second place in the Australian League, a half game behind Perth.  Their next game is at Canberra on Friday.