On Friday night, 14 December the Leones del Escogido were poor hosts to the Gigantes del Cibao in the Estadio Quisqueya, defeating them, 8-5, and keeping alive their hopes of classifying for the Round Robin portion of the local tournament. In Santiago, the Aguilas Cibaenas, with 3-3 hitting by captain Hector Luna, defeated the Estrellas Orientales with a score of 5-2. The Aguilas received excellent pitching from Lorenzo Barcelo who once again provided a quality start. In La Romana, the Toros del Este continued their fall, losing for the fifth time in a row. This time it was the Tigres del Licey, struggling to get out of the cellar, who defeated them with a very lopsided score of 12-3.
On Saturday, 15 December the Aguilas Cibaenas reached the magic number of 30 victories, defeating the Leones del Escogido with a score of 5-3. In San Francisco de Macoris, the Gigantes del Cibao, led by Diaz and Cruz, defeated the Toros del Este (their sixth straight loss), with a score of 8-5. In Santo Domingo the Estrellas Orientales bounced back and defeated the Tigres del Licey, shutting them out, 7-0.
On Sunday 16 December, The Toros del Este dealt a harsh blow to the hopes of the Leones del Escogido to classify for the playoffs. The Toros defeated the Leones by a score of 8-6 in the Estadio Quisqueya. In Santiago, the Tigres del Licey were not nice to their hosts, the Aguilas Cibaenas, defeating them by a score of 5-3 with timely hits by Juan Francisco (a homerun, his ninth of the season) and good pitching by Juan Carlos Cruz.
Standings
TEAM
WINS-LOSSES
AVG
GAMES BEHIND
ESTRELLAS
30 – 17
.638
—
AGUILAS
30 – 17
.638
—
GIGANTES
21 – 25
.456
8.5
TOROS
21 – 26
.447
9.0
LICEY
19 – 27
.413
10.5
ESCOGIDO
19 – 28
.404
11.0
Today’s game, Monday 17 December:
* Julian Javier Stadium, San Francisco de Macoris, 7:30pm – Tigres del Licey (M. de Salvo) vs. Gigantes del Cibao (R. Colon)