As another week of the regular season for Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional (LVBP) progresses, here is a look at the top news and notes from the end of the week in Venezuela.
LVBP All-Stars defeat Japan Breeze 3-1
On December 10, the LVBP All-Stars faced off against the Japan Breeze at Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela. The All-Stars defeated Japan Breeze in a 3-1 final. Gabriel Arias was named the game’s MVP.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when Venezuela loaded the bases for Moises Gomez. He was able to draw a walk, scoring Oswaldo Arcia. The next batter, Wilmer Perez, flew out to left field, but Gabriel Arias came down to score to grab Venezuela a 2-0 lead. Japan Breeze would score the following inning after a wild pitch thrown from Richard Guasch allowed Yu Gibo to cross the plate to get the Breeze first run of the game. Gabriel Arias would extend Venezuela’s lead an inning later, hitting an RBI double to left field to score Jose Peraza. Venezuela would be able to hang on in the top of the ninth, with Silvino Bracho getting the final batter to ground out to shortstop for the LVBP All-Stars to win 3-1.
LVBP Free Agent Draft
Also taking place on December 10, LVBP held its free agent draft, with some notable names being selected for several different teams in Venezuela. The Caribes de Anzoategui had the first selection of the day, and they selected Detroit Tigers prospect Josue Briceno. Briceno is coming off a stellar stint in the Arizona Fall League, hitting for the Triple Crown and becoming the only player to do so in the league’s 32-year history, and was named the Arizona Fall League MVP. Other notable players selected were Luis Guillorme by the Tiburones de La Guaira, Robert Suarez, Jairo Diaz by the Leones del Caracas and Canadian Damiano Palmegliani by the Cardenales de Lara.
Tigres de Aragua, Leones del Caracas Huge Victories before the All-Star Break
Before the LVBP All-Stars secured victory over the Japan Breeze at the Juego de Estrellas, the Tigres de Aragua and Leones del Caracas added one more win to their records. The league would then receive a day off for the festivities.
The Tigres de Aragua rallied in the sixth inning against the Bravos de Margarita after being down 5-1. The scoring would begin with Jesus Sucre walking with the bases loaded to score David Rodriguez. Luis Sardinas would come through as the following batter, hitting a two-run single to score Yorman Rodriguez and Leobaldo Piña to trail by just one. But the next batter, Odubel Herrera, would bring everyone home with a three-run home run to get the Tigres ahead 7-5. Panamanian pitcher Kenny Hernandez would pitch a 1-2-3 inning to lock down the save for the Tigres to beat the Bravos 7-6.
As for the Leones del Caracas would remain tied with the Caribes de Anzoategui until the top of the eighth, where the Leones rallied for six runs. Gabriel Noriega would lead off the inning with a solo home run, and two batters later, with Oswaldo Arcia on base, Eugenio Suarez would score them both, blasting his sixth home run of the season. With two outs and two runners on, Wilfredo Tovar added on, hitting a three-run home run as the Leones would have a 7-1 lead. But they did not stop there; in the ninth inning, with Oswaldo Arcia on base once again, who else but Eugenio Suarez to drive them both home, hitting his second two-run home run of the game and his seventh in just nine games for the Leones del Caracas to rally to a 9-1 victory over the Caribes de Anzoategui.
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