DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Cibao 4, Escogido 1 in Cibao. Alexi Casilla was 2-for-5 with a run for Cibao.
Cibaenas 4, Estrellas 0 in Estrellas. Esmerling Vasquez pitched two-thirds of an inning scorelessly, giving up a walk, for Estrellas.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Lara 3, Magallanes 2 in Magallanes. Pedro Guerra allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in 3.2 innings to take the loss for Magallanes.
The good: Deolis Guerra (Magallanes, Venezuela) is 1-0, 2.08, 1.27 WHIP in 8.2 innings (6 appearances). Pedro Guerra (Magallanes, Venezuela) is 0-0, 2.92, 0.81 WHIP in 12.1 innings (5 appearances, 2 starts). Deinys Suarez (Ponce, Puerto Rico) is 0-1, 1.00, 1.22 WHIP in 9 innings (2 starts). Todd Van Steensel (Sydney, Australia) is 0-0, 0.00, 1.00 in 5 innings (5 appearances).
The average: Aaron Bates (Caguas, Puerto Rico) is hitting .250/.308/.333 in 12 at-bats. Joe Benson (Aragua, Venezuela) is hitting .216/.355/.373 in 51 at-bats. Jairo Perez (Lara, Venezuela) is hitting .231/.375/.269 in 26 at-bats. Rory Rhodes (Brisbane, Australia) is hitting .214/.389/.286 in 56 at-bats.
The bad: Alexi Casilla (Cibao, Dominican) is hitting .208/.269/.208 in 24 at-bats. Estarlin De Los Santos (Cibao, Dominican) is hitting .111/.200/.111 in 9 at-bats. Joshua Hendricks (Melbourne, Australia) is hitting .167/.286/.167 in 23 at-bats. Angel Morales (Ponce, Puerto Rico) is hitting .182/.400/.182 in 11 at-bats. Eddie Rosario (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) is 143/.250/.143 in 7 at-bats. Ramon Santana (Este, Dominican) is .000/.000/.000 in 7 at-bats. Rene Tosoni is .195/.283/.195 in 41 at-bats. Jacob Younis (Sydney, Australia) is .200/.238/.200 in 60 at-bats. Cesar Ciurcina (Aragua, Venezuela) is 0-0, 5.40, 1.50 in 6.2 innings (5 appearances).
The insignificant: Oswaldo Arcia (Aragua, Venezuela) is 0-for-2. Josmil Pinto (Aragua, Venezuela) is 1-for-1. Dereck Rodriguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) is 0-for-1. Nelvin Fuentes (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) is 0-0, 4.50, 1.00 in 2 innings (2 appearances). Sam Gibbons (Melbourne, Australia) is 0-1, 9.00, 2.25 in 4 innings (3 appearances). Yorman Landa (La Guaira, Venezuela) is 0-0, 6.75, 2.25 in 2.2 innings (1 start). Lester Oliveros (Anzoategui, Venezuela) is 0-0, 2.25, 1.75 in 4 innings (5 appearances). Gonzalo Sanudo (Culiacan, Mexico) is 0-0, 0.00, 1.00 in 1 inning (1 appearance). Manuel Soliman (Escogido, Dominican) is 0-0, 0.00, 2.00 in 1 inning (1 appearance). Junior Subero (Carolina, Venezuela) is 0-0, 9.00, 3.00 iin 1 inning (1 appearance). Esmerling Vasquez (Estrellas, Dominican) has faced two batters, walking one and hitting one.
DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Friday
Cibaenas 10, Cibao 2 in Cibaenas. Alexi Casilla was 1-for-4 and scored once. Estarlin De Los Santos was 0-for-4. Both play for Cibao.
Saturday
Oriente 9, Escogido 5 in Escogido. Esmarling Vasquez walked the only batter he faced for Oriente, allowing an unearned run.
Cibao 3, Licey 2 in Cibao. Alexi Casilla was 1-for-5 and scored once.
Sunday
Cibao 8, Cibaenas 4 in Cibao. Alexi Casilla was 1-for-4, scored once, and drove in one.
PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Saturday
Ponce 3, Caguas 2 in Caguas (11 innings). Aaron Bates was 1-for-4 and scored once for Caguas. Angel Morales was 1-for-2 with two walks for Ponce.
Mayaguez 7, Carolina 6 in Mayaguez. Eddie Rosario pinch-ran and scored the winning run for Mayaguez.
Sunday
Ponce 5, Mayaguez 4 in Mayaguez. Angel Morales was used as a defensive replacement but did not bat.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Friday
Aragua 9, La Guaira 4 in Aragua. Cesar Ciurcina surrendered three runs on two hits and a walk in one inning for Aragua.
Saturday
Aragua 9, Magallanes 8 in Aragua (12 innings). Josmil Pinto was used as a reserve for Aragua and doubled in his only at-bat, coming around to score. Deolis Guerra gave up two hits in 1.2 scoreless innings for Magallanes.
Sunday
Aragua 10, La Guaira 3 in La Guaira. Cesar Ciurcina worked 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.
Anzoategui 4, Zulia 3 in Anzoategui. Lester Oliveros pitched a perfect inning for Anzoategui.
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE
Saturday
Perth 9, Melbourne 8 in Melbourne. Joshua Hendricks was 2-for-4 with a walk for Melbourne.
Brisbane 2, Sydney 0 in Brisbane. Jacob Younis was 0-for-3 for Sydney.
Sunday
Perth 6, Melbourne 1 in Melbourne (Game 1). Joshua Hendricks was 0-for-3 for Melbourne.
Perth 5, Melbourne 3 (Game 2). Joshua Hendricks was used as a pinch-runner but did not score. Sam Gibbons allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk in 3.1 innings for Melbourne.
Brisbane 2, Sydney 1 in Brisbane. Jacob Younis was 1-for-3. Todd Van Steensel gave up one hit in a scoreless inning for Sydney.
VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Anzoategui 6, Magallanes 0 in Anzoategui. Lester Oliveros pitched two-thirds of an inning for Anzoategui, giving up no runs on one hit while striking out one.
Zulia 10, La Guaira 8 in La Guaira. Yorman Landa made his debut for La Guaira. He started and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in 2.2 innings.
AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE
Brisbane 10, Sydney 0 (7 innings--rain). Jacob Younis was 1-for-3 for Sydney.
This feature gives me less joy in the wake of the Wilson Ramos kidnapping. On the other hand, the games are being played, and not reporting on them is not going to help him any.
Anzoategui 3, Magallanes 2 in Anzoategui. Mike Wilson (Seattle) hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Caribes the win. Pedro Rodriguez struck out three in two innings of work to get the win. Lester Oliveros walked the only batter he faced for Anzoategui. The Navegantes were led by Jose Altuve (Houston), who singled and doubled. Pedro Guerra started for Magallanes. He struck out five in three innings, but also allowed two runs on two hits and two walks. Rafael Cova allowed the game-winning homer in his second inning of pitching to take the loss.
In games not involving Twins players, Aragua defeated Margarita 8-4, Caracas edged La Guaira 4-3, and Zulia pounded Lara 10-2.
In today's games, Aragua is at Margarita, Magallanes is goes to Anzoategui, and Zulia travels to La Guaira.
Where they stand: Magallanes leads Anzoategui by 2.5 games. La Guaira is third, 3 back. Then comes Caracas, 4 behind; Aragua, 4.5 out; Zulia, 5 back; Lara, 6 out; and Margarita, 6.5 games back. Assuming they've made no changes to the playoff procedures since last year, the first five teams will go to the playoffs, which are in a round-robin format.
Who's hot: Deolis Guerra is 1-0, 2.57, 1.29 WHIP in 7 innings (5 appearances) for Magallanes. Pedro Guerra is 0-0, 2.00, 0.67 WHIP in 9 innings (4 appearances) for Magallanes.
Who's in the middle: Joe Benson is hitting .216/355/.373 in 51 at-bats for Aragua. Jairo Perez is hitting .231/.375/.269 in 26 at-bats for Lara.
Who's cold: Rene Tosoni is hitting .195/283/.195 in 41 at-bats for Lara.
Who's barely played: Oswaldo Arcia is 0-for-2 for Aragua. Josmil Pinto has played in two games for Aragua and walked in his only plate appearance. Cesar Ciurcina is 0-0, 2.08, 0.92 WHIP in 4.1 innings (3 appearances) for Aragua. Lester Oliveros is 0-0, 3.86, 2.14 WHIP in 2.1 innings (2 appearances) for Anzoategui. Junior Subero is 0-0, 9.00, 3.00 WHIP in 1 inning (1 appearance) for Caracas.
Note: I wonder if Andrew Baldwin has signed with someone, as I don't see him listed as one of the Twins players in winter ball any more. I'll try to track that down for This Week in Ex-Twins Friday.
Lara 6, Aragua 5 in Aragua. The Cardenales scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 Tigres lead. Luis Valbuena (Cleveland) led Lara with two hits. Oswaldo Navarro (Houston) hit a home run and drove in three. Johnny Montoya worked 2.1 scoreless innings to get the win, while Scott Patterson (Seattle) struck out two in a perfect ninth to get the save. For Aragua, Luis Maza had three singles and a double and Luis Hernandez had two singles and a double. Yangervis Solarte pinch-hit and was 1-for-1. Victor Moreno allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in one inning to take the loss.
Magallanes 5, Anzoategui 4 in Magallanes. The Navegantes lost a 4-0 lead but scored in the bottom of the ninth to win. Jose Altuve (Houston) led the way with three hits. Bryan LaHair (Cubs) hit a home run. Jean Machi (San Francisco) got the win by allowing two runs on three hits in the top of the ninth. The Caribes were led by Luis Nunez (Yankees), who doubled and singled. Eliezer Alfonzo (Colorado) hit a game-tying homer in the ninth. Lester Oliveros worked 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits. Matt Palmer took the loss, allowing a run on a hit and a walk in a third of an inning.
In games not involving Twins players, La Guaira defeated Zulia 5-2 and Caracas blanked Margarita 6-0.
There are no games scheduled in the Venzuelan Winter League today. Tomorrow, Aragua is at Margarita, Caracas travels to Lara, and Magallanes goes to La Guaira.
No Twins played in the VWL yesterday. Margarita defeated Caracas 12-7, Zulia blanked La Guaira 4-0, and Anzoategui edged Lara 2-1. Aragua at Magallanes was rained out.
In today's action, La Guaira is at Zulia, Margarita travels to Caracas, Lara goes to Aragua, and Anzoategui is at Magallanes.
Margarita 2, Aragua 0 at Aragua. Sean Burroughs, Francisco Leandro, and Cesar Hernandez (Philadelphia) each had two hits for the Bravos. Mike Parisi (Dodgers) worked seven innings to get the win. Ronald Belisario (Pittsburgh) pitched the last 1.2 innings to get the save. Yangervis Solarte and Vinny Rottino were each 2-for-4. Joe Benson was 0-for-3. The loss went to Deunte Heath (White Sox), who gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings while striking out six.
Magallanes 6, Caracas 1 in Caracas. Jesus Flores (Washington) had two singles and a double to lead the Navegantes. Jose Sanchez gave up a run on four hits in five innings to get the win. Pedro Guerra struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up only one hit, to get the win. For the Leones, Wladimir Sutil (Houston) singled and doubled. Michael Fiers (Milwaukee) allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk in five innings to take the loss.
Lara 4, Anzoategui 3 in Lara. The Cardenales scored two in the eighth to take the win. Oswaldo Navarro (Houston) and Jose Lopez (Florida) each had two hits. Luis Valbuena (Cleveland) hit a two-run homer in the eight to seal the victory. Jose Jimenez (Seattle) retired the only man he faced to get the win, while Raul Rivero (Baltimore) worked a scoreless ninth for the save. For the Caribes, Juan Camacho had three hits. Andrew Baldwin started and went 6.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. Brayan Villareal (Detroit) allowed the two eighth-inning runs on two hits in a third of an inning to take the loss.
In other Venezuelan League action, Zulia defeated La Guaira 5-3 in Zulia.
On today's schedule, Margarita is at Caracas, Aragua travels to Magallanes, La Guaira goes to Zulia, and Anzoategui is at Lara.
Zulia 4, Aragua 3 in Zulia. The Aguilas scored three in the fourth to overcome a 3-1 Tigres lead. Darin Mastroianni (Toronto) had three hits to lead Zulia, while Freddy Galvis (Philadelphia) drove in three. Moises Melendez retired both men he faced to get the win and Arcenio Leon (Houston) gave up just a walk in the ninth to get the save. Lastings Milledge doubled and singled to lead Aragua. Joe Benson was 0-for-3. Victor Moreno took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
In games not involving Twins players, Magallanes defeated Lara 4-1, La Guaira edged Caracas 7-6, and Margarita easily beat Anzoategui 11-3.
In other Twins news, we note that Rene Rivera has been playing for Licey in the Dominican League. He is currently 5-for-12 (.417).
In the Venezuelan League tonight, La Guaira is at Lara, Caracas is at Aragua, and Margarita travels to Magallanes.