With the regular season coming to a close, the race to the top of the standings is taking shape. Here’s a recap of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana (LIDOM) from this week.
Leones drop from first place down to third
The Leones del Escogido are on a four-game losing streak, including losses to the Estrellas Orientales and the Tigres del Licey. They were upset by the Toros del Este, who has the second-worst record in the league, on December 5. The Tigres beat the Leones 8-7 to hand them a crushing loss. The Tigres put together a seven-run eighth inning to pick up a come-from-behind win.
Toros Heating up
The Toros have won their fourth straight game and are now 16-21. Bryan De La Cruz made his season debut for the Toros and went 3-for-4 with an RBI. The Toros are in a position to catch the Aguilas Cibaeñas for the fourth and final spot in the postseason.
Francisco Peña climbing the leaderboard
Francisco Peña of the Toros hit his first home run of the season on December 4. It was a grand slam that put him in the history books. His 26th career LIDOM home run gave him the fourth most all-time by a catcher. While it was a big moment, the veteran catcher is more concerned with getting wins.
“When a team is down like this, we gain confidence with games like this, and teams like this are dangerous,” Peña told Manny del Rosario of LIDOM.com.
Peña hit another home run the following night as well. The catcher is heating up just in time for the Toros to potentially jump into fourth place.
LIDOM Standings
- Estrellas Orientales (21-16)
- Tigres del Licey (20-16)
- Leones del Escogido (20-17)
- Aguilas Cibaeñas (18-18)
- Toros del Este (16-21)
- Gigantes del Cibao (14-21)
Where to watch
LIDOM games can be watched as part of MLB.TV’s offseason package. Games are broadcast in Spanish but are not archived.
