Oswaldo Arcia hits his third homer.  Aragua nearly blows a big lead.  A wild game in Lara.

ARAGUA 9, MAGALLANES 8 IN ARAGUA

Twins:  Oswaldo Arcia (Aragua) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run (his third), scoring twice.  Edgar Ibarra (Aragua) pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and no walks with one strikeout.  Dakota Watts (Aragua) pitched a third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits and one walk.  Aaron Thompson (Aragua) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and no walks with one strikeout.

Magallanes:  Lew Ford was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Ramon Hernandez was 2-for-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in two.  Gabriel Garcia struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks.

Aragua:  Ronny Cedeno (San Diego) was 3-for-4 with a walk and a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Guillermo Quiroz was 2-for-2 with two walks and a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Jan Granado pitched five innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

The game:  Aragua scored four in the first and built a 7-2 lead after six.  Magallanes scored five in the seventh to tie it.  Aragua took the lead back with one in the bottom of the seventh, but Magallanes again tied it with one in the eighth.  In the tenth a pair of singles put runners on first and third with one out.  The next batter grounded to second, but Magallanes was unable to turn the double play and the winning run scored.

MARGARITA 4, ANZOATEGUI 2 IN MARGARITA (GAME 1--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar (Anzoategui) was 1-for-3.

Anzoategui:  Jose Gil (Yankees) was 2-for-2 with a walk and a double.  Cory Aldridge was 1-for-2 with a walk and a home run, his seventh.

Margarita:  Carlos Rivero was 2-for-3 with a double and a two-run homer (his sixth), scoring twice.

The game:  Margarita scored two in the second to take a 2-1 lead, but Anzoategui tied it with a run in the third.  In the fourth, Rivero hit a two-run homer to give Margarita the lead.

ANZOATEGUI 3, MARGARITA 1 IN MARGARITA (GAME 2--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)

Twins:  Eduardo Escobar was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Anzoategui:  Luis Nunez was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.  Alexi Amarista (San Diego) was 2-for-3.  Mark Serrano (Arizona) struck out seven in six innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks.

Margarita:  Max Ramirez (Cincinnati) was 1-for-2 with a home run, his third.

The game:  With the score tied at one, Escobar led off the third with a home run to give Anzoategui the lead.  Nunez hit an RBI double in the fourth to provide an insurance run.  The last seventeen Margarita batters were retired.

LA GUAIRA 13, LARA 12 IN LARA (13 INNINGS)

La Guaira:  Andy Wilkins (White Sox) was 5-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in four.  Luis Sardinas (Texas) was 4-for-5 with a walk and a double, scoring three times and driving in one.  Cesar Suarez was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in three.

Lara:  Luis Jimenez was 2-for-5 with three walks and a grand slam (his second homer), scoring twice and driving in six.  Joc Pederson (Dodgers) was 2-for-5 with two walks and a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Joe Thurston was 2-for-5 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

The game:  La Guaira scored seven in the second to take an 8-3 lead.  They scored four more in the third to go ahead 12-3, but Lara came back with four in the third and four in the fifth to make it 12-11.  There was no more scoring until the ninth, when Jimenez delivered an RBI single with one out to tie it up.  In the thirteenth, Jose Gonzalez singled to drive in the go-ahead run.  Lara had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the thirteenth, but a double play ended the game.

ZULIA 4, CARACAS 0 IN ZULIA

Caracas:  Ramon Cabrera (Detroit) was 2-for-3.  Hernan Perez (Detroit) was 2-for-3.

Zulia:  Ernest Mejia (Atlanta) was 2-for-3 with a walk and two home runs (his fifth and sixth), driving in three.  Elvis Araujo (Cleveland) pitched four shutout innings, allowing one hit and no walks.

The game:  Mejia led off the second with a home run to give Zulia a 1-0 lead.  Three singles produced a second run in the second inning.  It stayed 2-0 until the sixth, when Mejia hit a two-run homer.  Caracas had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth and runners on first and second with none out in the sixth.