On Friday night 23 November the Leones del Escogido plunged the Tigres del Licey deeper into the basement, by winning 3-1. Daniel Cabrera was the dominant pitcher and Mauro Gomez took care of the offense. In San Pedro de Macoris, the Toros del Este defeated the league-leading Estrellas Orientales 7-3. A homerun by Steven Lerud was the mortal blow for the Toros who closed to within a game of first place. In San Francisco de Macoris, the Gigantes del Cibao defeated the Aguilas Cibaenas, 1-0 in a dramatic game which ended with a bases-loaded single by Robinson Diaz with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Gigantes the victory. Kevin Pucetas and Tim Corcoran dueled for seven innings 0-0 in a game that was filled with alternatives.
On Saturday 24 November, the Gigantes del Cibao dealt yet another blow to the Tigres del Licey, defeating them 5-2 in the Estadio Cibao. This was the third victory in a row for the Gigantes and the fourth defeat in a row for the Tigres and the tenth in their last eleven games. The Gigantes victory sullied the debut of new Tigres manager Mike Guerrero who was brought in to replace Dean Treanor. Marcel Ozuna and another by Wilson Valdez were the winning runs. In San Pedro de Macoris, the Estrellas Orientales won their first individual series, against the Leones del Escogido (which is now 6 win against 0 losses) and strengthened their hold on first place in the standings. The 4-2 victory was the result of three runs batted in by Feliz Pie and great relief pitching that held the Leones to one run over five innings. In Santiago, Oscar Taveras produced two runs and eight Aguilas pitchers kept the Toros from scoring. Young TJ Pena got his third win of the season, all as a reliever.
On Sunday, 25 November the Tigres del Licey shook off some of their bad luck and defeated the Leones del Escogido, 6-4 in the venerable Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo. Leonys Marte was the big bat for Licey with 2-4 and a run batted in, and was joined by Ronnie Paulino with a big double. Over in La Romana home runs by Luis Jimenez and Juan Diaz led the Estrellas Orientales to a victory over the Toros del Este, a 4-1. The victory gives the Estrellas 21 wins so far this season and leaves them firmly in first place in the standings. In Santiago’s Estadio Cibao, the Aguilas Cibaenas, behind the good pitching of Lorenzo Barcelo, and the hitting of Wilin Rosario and Manny Ramirez, defeated the Gigantes del Cibao and climbed back into second place in the standings.
Standings
TEAM
WINS-LOSSES
AVG
GAMES BEHIND
ESTRELLAS
21 – 11
.656
—
AGUILAS
18 – 13
.581
2.5
TOROS
18 – 14
.563
3.0
GIGANTES
15 – 16
.483
5.5
LEONES
12 – 19
.387
8.5
TIGRES
10 – 21
.323
10.5
Tonight’s scheduled games (Monday 26 November) and possible starting pitchers:
* Julian Javier Stadium, San Francisco de Macoris, 7:30pm – Tigres del Licey (Y. Flande) vs. Gigantes del Cibao (K. Newby)
* Tetelo Vargas Stadium, San Pedro de Macoris, 8:00pm – Leones del Escogido (C. Corcino) vs. Estrellas Orientales (O. Javier)
* Francisco Micheli Stadium, La Romana, 7:30pm – Aguilas Cibaenas (M. Bowden) vs. Toros del Este (F. Abad)
For more on ongoing and upcoming events, see http://dr1.com/calendar