MELBOURNE

SYDNEY 7, MELBOURNE 3 AT SYDNEY

Sydney scored five in the first inning and led all the way.  Jarryd Dale was 2-for-4 for Melbourne.  Kyle Perkins was 1-for-2 with a home run (his second) and two walks.  Ex-Twin Sam Gibbons started for Melbourne.  He pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out two.

Record:  Melbourne is 19-8, in first place in the Australian League, four games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  The regular season is over.  Five of the six teams go to the playoffs.  The playoffs start with a play-in game between Canberra and Sydney.  After that, the four teams remaining play a double-elimination tournament.  Except, the championship game is not double-elimination.  In other words, if you reach the finals, there's no advantage to being the undefeated team other than you played one fewer game so your pitching might be in better shape.  If a team goes undefeated, but then loses to the one-loss team in the finals, it does not get another chance.

CARIBBEAN SERIES FINAL

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4, PUERTO RICO 1

The Dominican scored two in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.  Ramon Torres was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Ronald Guzman was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Johan Camargo was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Cesar Valdez pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three.  Puerto Rico had only four hits.  Hector Hernandez struck out seven in five innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.

The Dominican Republic goes undefeated and wins the Caribbean Series.

MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE 11, SYDNEY 5 AT SYDNEY

Melbourne scored two in the first and led all the way, eventually building a 9-0 lead before Sydney made the final score look better.  Jack Barrie was 3-for-5 with four RBIs.  Darryl George was 3-for-6.  Damek Tomscha was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs.  Gift Ngoepe was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs.  Chris Burke was 2-for-6 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and two runs.  Blake Gailen was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his ninth), three walks, and two runs.  Gunnar Kines pitched five innings, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks and striking out three.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 0-for-1 with two walks and is batting .398.  George is batting .333.  Barrie is batting .324.  Tomscha is batting .317.  Andrew Jones pitched a scoreless inning and has an ERA of zero.  Jeremy Young gave up a run in two innings and has an ERA of 1.64.  Cameron Gibbens pitched a scoreless inning and has an ERA of 1.93.

Record:  Melbourne is 18-8, in first place in the Australian League, 3.5 games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  Melbourne is again at Sydney tonight.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4, PANAMA 3

it was tied 2-2 through eight.  Rodrigo Orozco singled home a run in the top of the ninth for Panama, but Carlos Paulino's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth won it for the Dominican Republic.  Juan Lagares was 2-for-4 for the Dominican.  Carlos Martinez struck out eight in 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and four walks.  For Panama, Orozco was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Manuel Campos pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks and striking out four.

PUERTO RICO 2, MEXICO 1

All the runs were scored in the fourth inning, with Reymond Fuentes' two-run homer carrying the day.  Jarren Duran was 2-for-3 with a walk for Puerto Rico.  Luis Medina pitched five innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ramiro Pena was 2-for-4 for Mexico.  Manny Barreda pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks and striking out three.

NEXT GAME

Puerto Rico plays the Dominican Republic in the finals tonight.

MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE 9, SYDNEY 2 AT SYDNEY

Blake Gailen hit a three-run homer in the first and Melbourne led all the way.  Sydney cut it to 3-2 after two, but Melbourne scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and three in the sixth.  Damek Tomscha was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Colin Willis was 3-for-6 with a triple.  Gailen was 1-for-2 with two walks and the home run was his eighth.  Tyler Beardsley pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks and striking out four.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-3 and is batting .402.  Willis is batting .333.  Darryl George was 1-for-4 and is batting .325.  Tomscha is batting .313.  Josh Tols pitched a scoreless inning and has an ERA of 1.98.

Record:  Melbourne is 18-8, in first place in the Australian League, three games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  Melbourne is at Sydney this afternoon.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

PUERTO RICO 9, PANAMA 8

Panama scored five in the first, but after three it was 5-5.  Puerto Rico led 9-6 after five and it stayed there until the ninth, when Panama scored two.  They had the bases loaded with one out but could not push any more runs across.  For Puerto Rico, Jarren Duran was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and three runs.  Henry Ramos was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Jonathan Morales was 2-for-3.  Jason Garcia started put pitched just two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks.  For Panama, David Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Allen Cordoba was 2-for-4.  Hector Gomez was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jesus Lopez was 2-for-5.  Harold Arauz lasted just two innings, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3, COLOMBIA 2

Rangel Ravelo had a walkoff single in the ninth to win it for the Dominican.  Ramon Torres was 2-for-3.  Melky Cabrera was 2-for-5 with a double.  Ravelo was 2-for-5.  Yunesky Maya pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out four.  For Colombia, Evan Mendoza was 2-for-4.  Harold Ramirez was 2-for-4.  Edison Frias pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out four.

MEXICO 4, VENEZUELA 3 (10 INNINGS)

Venezuela led 3-0 through seven.  Mexico scored three in the eighth to tie it and Juan Carlos Gamboa delivered an RBI single in the tenth to win it.  Sebastian Elizalde was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jose Guadalupe Chavez was 2-for-5.  Efren Navarro was 2-for-5.  Edgar Arredondo pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.  For Venezuela, D. Vazquez was 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two runs.  Ali Castillo was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Ex-Twin Logan Darnell pitched seven shutout innings, giving up seven hits and no walks and striking out six.

STANDINGS

Dominican Republic, 5-0
Puerto Rico, 4-1
Mexico, 3-2
Panama, 2-3
Venezuela, 1-4
Colombia, 0-5

NEXT GAMES

We move to the semi-finals.

Panama v. Dominican Republic
Mexico v Puerto Rico

Sorry, I had a bunch of stuff to do this morning, and then I just pretty much forgot about it.

MELBOURNE

SYDNEY 5, MELBOURNE 0 AT SYDNEY

Sydney scored two in the second and three in the eighth.  Blake Gailen led Melbourne, going 2-for-4.  Brian Flynn struck out eleven in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-4 and is batting .404.  Darryl George was 0-for-4 and is batting .327.  Colin Willis was 0-for-4 and is batting .311.  Flynn has an ERA of 1.62.

Record:  Melbourne is 17-8, in first place in the Australian League, three games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  Melbourne is again at Sydney this afternoon.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2, VENEZUELA 0

Robel Garcia's two-run double in the seventh provided the only runs of the game.  Garcia was 2-for-3.  Andy Otero pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out three.  For Venezuela, Jesus Sucre was 2-for-3.  Williams Perez struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks.

PUERTO RICO 2, COLOMBIA 1

Jonathan Morales' walkoff walk won the game for Puerto Rico.  Johneshwy Fargas led off the ninth with a double and scored the deciding run.  Tommy Romero struck out six in 5.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks.  Reiver Sanmartin struck out eight in five innings for Colombia, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

MEXICO 6, PANAMA 3

J. Leon's grand slam in the fourth gave Mexico all the runs they needed.  A. Vazquez pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  David Rodriguez was 2-for-4 for Panama.  Luis Machuca pitched 3.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks and striking out one.

STANDINGS

Dominican Republic, 4-0
Puerto Rico, 3-1
Mexico, 2-2
Panama, 2-2
Venezuela, 1-3
Colombia, 0-4

NEXT GAMES

Panama v. Puerto Rico
Colombia v. Dominican Republic
Venezuela v. Mexico

MELBOURNE

Saturday

MELBOURNE 10, BRISBANE 7 AT BRISBANE

Melbourne built a 7-1 lead in the fourth.  They led 10-3 going to the bottom of the ninth, then held on.  Brisbane had the tying run up to bat with one out, but a double play ended the game.  Darryl George was 3-for-5 with a grand slam (his fourth homer) and two runs.  Chris Burke was 2-for-4.  Jarryd Dale was 2-for-4.  Blake Gailen was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his seventh.  Gift Ngoepe was 1-for-5 with a home run.  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his fifth.  Ex-Twin Sam Gibbons started and pitched 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and one walk and striking out three.

Stats:  Young is batting .411.  Colin Willis was 1-for-3 and is batting .341.  George is batting .340.  Damek Tomscha was 1-for-5 and is batting .307.  Cameron Gibbens pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and has an ERA of 2.16.  Josh Tols pitched a perfect inning and has an ERA of 2.13.

Sunday

No game scheduled.  Melbourne is 17-7, in first place in the Australian League, 3.5 games ahead of Perth.  Their next scheduled game is Thursday at Perth.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

The Caribbean Series opened Sunday.

PANAMA 6, VENEZUELA 3

Trailing 3-2, Panama scored four in the sixth.  Allen Cordoba was 3-for-4 for Panama.  Harold Arauz pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks and striking out three.  A. Warner pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.  For Venezuela, Herlis Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a home run.  Jesus Sucre was 2-for-4 with a home run.  David Martinez pitched five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out one.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 5, PUERTO RICO 1

J. Lagares hit a three-run homer in the third to put the Dominican up 3-1 and then hit a two-run single in the fourth to make it 5-1.  C. Martinez struck out seven in 5.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks.  Puerto Rico had just four hits.  L. Medina pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

MEXICO 10, COLOMBIA 2

Mexico scored six in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead.  Jesse Castillo was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, two runs, and four RBIs.  Manny Barreda pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out two.  J. Diaz was 2-for-4 to lead Colombia.  D. Holmberg pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks and striking out one.

STANDINGS

Dominican Republic, 1-0
Mexico, 1-0
Panama, 1-0
Colombia, 0-1
Puerto Rico, 0-1
Venezuela, 0-1

TODAY'S GAMES

Panama v. Colombia
Venezuela v. Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic v. Mexico