Brooks Hall, a former fourth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers who has only pitched 15 games above Double-A in his career, was dominant on the mound for the Tigres del Licey, who improved to 6-5 in the round robin stage of the LIDOM playoffs with a 4-3 win over the Aguilas de Cibaenas on Wednesday night.
Hall threw 6.1 innings, allowing just three hits and a walk, striking out three and allowing one earned run before being lifted for Jonathan Aro in the bottom of the seventh.
Sergio Alcantara and Emilio Bonifacio rapped back-to-back, two-out RBI triples in a four-run top of the fourth for Licey, which proved to be all the scoring they would need.
Former New York Mets outfielder Juan Lagares had two doubles and a single for Aguilas, who fell to 5-6 in the round robin, including a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth that put the tying run in scoring position. Lagares was stranded when Johan Camargo struck out and Brett Sullivan popped out to second to end the game.
Hall, 32, split the 2022 season between Lancaster of the Atlantic League and Double-A Binghamton.
In the other LIDOM game Wednesday, Gigantes de Cibao knocked off Estrellas Orientales 4-1 in 11 innings. Free agent infielder Robinson Cano had two hits and drove in Estrellas only run, while former MLB, KBO, and NPB second baseman Yamaico Navarro had two hits, two RBI and a run scored for Gigantes.
There are seven games remaining for each of the four teams in the LIDOM round robin. The top two teams advance to the best-of-seven championship series, with the winner representing the Dominican Republic in the 2023 Caribbean Series in Venezuela in February. Gigantes de Cibao and Tigres del Licey are tied atop the standings at 6-5, while Estrellas Orientales and Aguilas Cibaenas are tied for third at 5-6.
