As the sixth week of the regular season for the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) progresses, here is a look at the top news and notes from the end of the week in Winter League Baseball.
Tiburones de La Guiara continue to fall as they suffer defeat to Leones 14-6
The Leones del Caracas delivered another defeat to the Tiburones on Thursday, putting up an impressive offensive performance with 14 runs off of 15 hits, including four home runs. Their top four players of the game, Harold Castro, Aldrin Corredor, Lenyn Sosa, and Jose Rondon, went for a combined 8-for-20 with six extra-base hits and ten runs between them. Harold Castro went 3-4 on his own, putting up two of the four Leones home runs in the game. While the Leones enjoyed their third consecutive win this past week, La Guaira’s troubles continued as they suffered their third straight loss this week. This is the Leones’ first win over the Tiburones since November 26, 2023.
The Caracas offensive onslaught began in the first inning of the game with three base hit RBIs off the bats of Lenyn Sosa, Aldrin Corredor, and Jose Rondon, but it did not stop there. In the next inning Rondon hit a two-run double, his seventh of the season. Before the second inning could end, Rene Pinto joined in on the fun and drove in two runs as well off of a hit to right field. The Tiburones tried to respond but could only get two runs across the plate in the first two innings: a double from Luis Matos that scored one and a base hit to center from Daniel Montaño that allowed Wilson Garcia to score. The game remained 7-2 in favor of the Leones until the fifth inning, where Caracas kept piling it on with three home runs to put the score at 10-2.
The Tiburones would score four runs between the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings off the bats of Solarte with an RBI, Garcia with a two-run double, and Escobar with an RBI double. The Leones scored two runs in the seventh inning and would cap off their victory with a Livian Soto home run to leave the game at 14-6.
The Cardenales de Lara break four-game losing streak with victory over Caribes
The Cardenales de Lara have fallen on hard times when it comes to offensive production, only having four hits in their game against the Caribes de Anzoátegui on Thursday. However, they were able to eke out a win with the Caribes defense imploding, committing three errors that would cost them the game.
Ildemaro Vargas, a player with experience in the Washington Nationals organization, was crucial to the Cardenales victory, missing the cycle by just the home run. He hit a single, a double, and a triple, had one RBI, and scored three runs in four at-bats. Despite narrowly missing hitting for the cycle, Vargas was satisfied getting the victory. “I swear that the most important thing for me was not the home run but the victory because everyone knows the streak we were on…This team is ready for great things and the only pressure we feel is to do things well. The important thing here is not to hang our heads. We can do it,” Vargas said in a statement to the LVBP press.
The Caribes had nine runners on base during the game but could not capitalize. Despite putting the pressure on in the ninth inning by loading the bases with only one out, no runs were allowed to come across the plate. Their only runs were scored in the fourth inning against Cardenales starting pitcher Brayan Pérez, allowing two runners to come home. That is largely due to the work of Cardenales reliever Jesús Valles, who has pitched 18 immaculate scoreless innings and still has not had a crack in his game. The final score of the game was 6-3, resulting in a much-needed Cardenales de Lara victory.
LVBP Standings as of November 15:
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