Staff Reports
World Baseball Network
Halfway through the round robin stage of the playoffs in the Liga Venezolana Beisbol Profesional, the Tiburones de La Guaira have only lost once.
They improved to 7-1 Thursday night with a 13-3 chomping of the Tigres de Aragua that saw them bat around and score seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Wilson Garcia led off the big inning with a solo homer. After Yasiel Puig scored on a base-loaded walk issued to Brayan Rocchio, Franklin Barreto ripped a two-run double to left to score Luis Torres and Danry Vasquez. Rocchio later scored on a wild pitch, and Barreto scored on an RBI single by Maikel Garcia. When the lineup turned over, Wilson Garcia hit a sac fly to center to score Maikel Garcia with the seventh run of the inning.
Six La Guaira pitchers held the Tigres to seven hits and issued four total walks. Aragua fell to 3-5 with the loss.
La Guaira plays Caracas and the Cardenales de Lara face the Tigres at 6 p.m. EST Friday night. All LVBP games can be streamed via Beisbolplay.com with a paid subscription.
Caracas 5, Margarita 0 – Starter Rito Lugo allowed two hits over five innings and struck out five, and Jose Rondon went 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI as the Leones del Caracas shut out the Bravos de Margarita 5-0 Thursday.
The Leones clawed their way back to .500 with the win, improving their record to 4-4 in the 16-game round robin. They are three games behind the Tiburones de La Guaira.
Naranjeros Get the Winning Juice In the 10th – Cesar Salazar’s double to right field scored Agustin Murillo in the bottom of the 10th to give the Naranjeros de Hermosillo a 4-3 win over the Aguilas de Mexicali in game one of their Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico semifinal series.
Isaac Paredes went 2-for-4 with two RBI for Hermosillo.
Ronaldo Rodriguez drove in all three Mexicali runs, hitting an RBI single in the third that scored Javier Salazar, a double in the top of the seventh that scored Salazar again, and an RBI single in the top of the eighth that sent Norberto Obeso home.
Game two of the series is Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
Venados de Mazatlan 3, Tomateros de Culiacan 0 – A fielding error by Culiacan third baseman Emmanuel Avila allowed Randy Romero to score the game’s first run, and a two-run single by Jose Gaitan, both in the bottom of the third, gave the Venados de Mazatlan a 1-0 series lead over the Tomateros on Thursday night.
Odrisamer Despaigne went seven innings for Mazatlan, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out three to earn the win.
Game two of the series is Friday night at 10 p.m. EST. Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico games can be streamed via Extrabase.tv for a fee.